Hey everyone! it's the third day of Camp Nanowrimo and also the third day of my blog challenge: A Post A Day. And I have a special treat for you! it's a guest post by the author of Any Boy But You, Julie Hammerle! Keep reading to find out how she created the world of North Pole, the fictional city the book takes place in. Also, you can check out my review for the book here: Any Boy But You Populating the world of North Pole A little bit of trivia about the North Pole, Minnesota series: The first book in this series is the third one I wrote. I actually wrote a draft of what will be the second book first—about seven years ago—but the third book in the series is the first one I wrote that was set in North Pole. Book two, then three, then one. Got it? I’m confusing even myself. When I signed on with Entangled to write the North Pole, Minnesota series, we decided to do kind of a “year in the life” sort of thing. Book one would be set in January/February, book two would take place in the summer, and book three would take place during the December holidays. I’d already written the December book (sort of). I was able to take an old manuscript and retcon it to fit into the North Pole world for book two, but I had to come up with book one from scratch. By the time I started writing Any Boy but You, I’d already played around in this universe. I knew which characters I wanted to highlight in books two and three because I’d already written them. I knew I could use those characters, their families, and friends to fill out the world. But who would my main characters be? I started brainstorming—maybe the girl could be the babysitter of someone’s little sibling, or the boy could be the babysitter, or maybe the boy could babysit the girl because she’s a mess and her parents don’t trust her at home alone. Basically, my first thoughts had a lot to do with people babysitting. No, I don’t remember why. I got rid of those ideas pretty fast, and I started to focus on the town itself. What if there were two stores of the same kind on Main Street—kind of like where I used to vacation as a kid and there were, like, three craft stores that sold the same wares. What if the families were feuding? What if the kids wound up in a You’ve Got Mail-type situation where they fell in love without knowing it? The story filled itself out from there—I could highlight as many townies as I wanted as they dashed around town playing the game Oliver created. I could bring in people I already knew from book three for comic relief. I could stealthily set up book two in the epilogue. I started to think of North Pole as Springfield. In the early seasons of The Simpsons, there are a lot of random one-off characters who show up for one scene or one line, never to be seen again. But as the show progressed, those roles started to be filled by characters we’d already come to know. Why have a random nobody running the bake sale, when Chief Wiggum is right there? It creates a sort of shorthand, bringing in the same characters, using their archetypes and idiosyncrasies to enrich the scene. That’s why Craig (one of my favorite North Pole residents) tends to pop up for comic relief every so often in all three books. He’s everyone’s foil. He’s the bee in North Pole’s collective bonnet. The seasons and the main characters change in each story, but the townsfolk are the threads who tie the books together. That's it for this guest post! I hope you enjoyed learning about Julie's writing technique for her book Any Boy But You, and let me know what you think about it. Have you read it yet? Will you be picking up the next book when it comes out?
Again, if you haven't read my review for the book, You can read it here: Any Boy But You Leave me all your thoughts in the comments below or find me on social media, @BrookeEvans2001 on Twitter and @thecozylittlebooknook on Instagram. I will be back tomorrow with another post! Want to know what it is? Check out this post: April's A Post A Day Schedule ~Brooke
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Hey everyone! It’s the second day of April, and today’s post for y’all is something that I haven’t done in a really long time: a more discussion, life update post. I think the last time that I really had one of these that were a bit more in depth was last year, in like December.
Anyways, the first thing that’s a huge announcement, that if you follow me on twitter, then you already know is that I’m participating in Camp Nanowrimo this month, which is something that I haven’t done before. I did Nanowrimo back in November last year for the first time, and it was an experience that I really enjoyed, but was also a bit stressful at the same time. I like how Camp Nanowrimo allows you to set your own word goal, or if you don’t want to measure your accomplishments in words, you can also chart how many hours, pages, lines, etc… you wrote which is definitely really cool. For now however, I’m going to stick to counting words, but for next year, I’m definitely thinking about setting a goal of a certain amount of hours. Another thing that I really like is that Camp nano sorts you into a cabin, if you would like, and you can choose to be sorted into a cabin with people of your similar age (which is what I did) or goal or genre (I think). Now of course, you probably want to know what the heck I’m writing about, and my goals. Well hold your horses and I’ll tell you right now :) Before even knowing about Camp being in April, (which my timing could not be worse because I’m writing a novel and 30 blog posts in April, on top of homework is probably not the most ideal situation), I had read The Distance from A to Z, which I really liked the idea of going to a summer intensive program, and I had a couple books on my TBR list that featured music, as the lifeline of the main characters. I fell in love with both of these ideas, and one day in class, i started thinking of how I could incorporate both into a book, that I would write for Nanowrimo in November. Well my opportunity to write it came now, so, well...I’m doing it now. The summary of the book is that the main character, Joyce goes of to a summer intensive music camp for singing that is one of the most prestigious programs available for high school students that attracts from all over the world. It is set in New York, and Joyce is from a small Oregon town which is quite a different change in scenery. She meets Cameron, someone else who is in the program and while they have an undeniable attraction, they know they are at competition for a scholarship to another program in the fall, so they stay as enemies. Something happens, and eventually they work over it, and are together by the end. I absolutely love the YA contemporary genre, and while I feel like the book is going to be a bit cliche, I’m hoping to be able to add a bit more depth to the characters and the overall plot of the book. If you have any ideas on what i could add, please let me know because even though it’s only the second day of writing, I’m already out of ideas. A little update on my personal life. Quite a lot has changed since I last update you on my life, and the biggest one is I started a new sport. I don’t really want to say what it is yet, I want to see how it goes first before i actually say anything, but I will say that I absolutely love it, and hopefully it will be something that I do for the rest of my life. It takes up about 7 hours a week of my life, which is a minor setback as that means i have less time for blogging and writing and reading, and for homework as well as practicing piano. So the main reason that I haven’t been able to blog as much is because this is taking up more time that I originally thought. Some of you may know that I utilized my planner like it was a life or death situation before...but i’m afraid to say that i’ve let that slip a bit since the beginning of the year. So this month, I’m also starting a bullet journal, which hopefully will allow me to keep everything together and somewhat organized. I have a post near the end of the month that will detail my experience with bullet journalling. Let me know if you want to see it :) April’s really the month of change, challenges, and trying new things and a bunch of other crazy stuff that i know i’m kind of dumb for trying all this month. But you know, go big or go home so I’m going to take everything and hopefully at least some of the things i do this month work out to be successes. As always, Leave me all your thoughts in the comments below or find me on social media, @BrookeEvans2001 on Twitter and @thecozylittlebooknook on Instagram. Don’t forget to check out yesterday’s post where I have all schedule of all the posts I will have in April, and come back tomorrow for a guest post by the author of Any Boy But You. I will see you tomorrow! ~Brooke Hi Everyone! It’s the first of April, which of course is April’s fools, and I have a feeling that many of y’all are probably thinking that the whole A Post A Day challenge that I have been talking about was just a whole April Fool’s pranks...well it’s not! Today’s post however, isn’t as interesting as the rest of them, not by far, but it does give you all the details about what posts you can look forward to this month.
Of course, this is a list that I made a little while ago, and by the time that it actually comes to posting them, they may have shifted in ideas, or been totally changed. Some of the dates might get changed around as the month goes on, all depending on which ones I have done by when. I have some of the posts scheduled already and a couple others that I am in the middle of writing, so those will be scheduled. As much as I am hoping (and in a perfect world, this would happen) to have all my posts written and scheduled at least a week or more ahead of time, I know for sure that this simply just won’t happen. Anyways, here’s the schedule for this month: April 1: April Challenge Schedule April 2: Life Update: What have I been up to? April 3: Any Boy But You Guest Post by Author April 4: Other Breakable Things Review April 5: Top Ten (Not really Tuesday) Fandom Freebie--Most Popular Fandoms April 6: Operation Prom Date Review April 7: Fanning the Flames Guest Post by Author April 8: Gold Rush Review April 9: Excerpt from my Camp Nanowrimo piece April 10: Don’t Kiss the Messenger Review April 11: Garden of Thorns Guest Post by Author April 12: Incriminating Dating Review April 13: Loot Crate Dream Crate April 14: Other Breakable Things guest post by Author April 15: Halfway through Camp Nano reflection April 16: Excerpt from my Camp Nanowrimo piece April 17: Seeking Mansfield Review April 18: Top Ten Things That Will Make Me Instantly Want To Read A Book April 19: Don't Kiss the Messenger Guest Post by Author April 20: 7 Days of you Review April 21: Intermission Review April 22: Sweet Tea and Summer Love Review April 23: NANO excerpt April 24: Geekeralla Review April 25: True North Guest Post by Author April 26: My experience creating a Graphic Novel as a class project April 27: How Willa Got her Groove back Review April 28: Why I write/journal + Starting a Bullet Journal April 29: Crazy Stupid Fauxmance Review April 30: Recap all posts w/links Hope there’s at least something that you wanted to see on this list, and while I do have this schedule, I want to hear about what else you would like to see. As always, leave me all your thoughts in the comments below or find me on social media, @BrookeEvans2001 on Twitter and @thecozylittlebooknook on Instagram. I will be back tomorrow with another post! ~Brooke Dating the IT Guy by Krysten Lindsay Hager Genre: YA Contemporary Romance Publication date: March 21, 2017 Format: I received a copy of the book as part of a blog tour for the book by YA Bound book tours. In no way was this review impacted by the format of the book. You can purchase a copy of the book here: https://www.amazon.com/Dating-Guy-Krysten-Lindsay-Hager-ebook/dp/B06XBFRX47/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1489051105&sr=8-1&keywords=Dating+the+It+Guy Summary: Emme is a sophomore in high school who starts dating, Brendon Agretti, the popular senior who happens to be a senator's son and well-known for his good looks. Emme feels out of her comfort zone in Brendon's world and it doesn't help that his picture perfect ex, Lauren, seems determined to get back into his life, along with every other girl who wants to be the future Mrs. Agretti. Emme is already conflicted due to the fact her last boyfriend cheated on her and her whole world is off kilter with her family issues. Life suddenly seems easier keeping Brendon away and relying on her crystals and horoscopes to guide her. Emme soon starts to realize she needs to focus less on the stars and more on her senses. Can Emme get over her insecurities and make her relationship work? Life sure is complicated when you're dating the it guy. My Thoughts: I have got to say first of all, it’s been awhile since I’ve written a review right after I finished the book, but it’s nice to have all my thoughts about the book in my head, fresh and ready to go into this review. In this review, you get to see a lot more of my initial reactions to scenes, and my immediate likes and dislikes. To start off with, Emme, the main character seems a bit less matured than you expect from a sophomore (I think she’s a sophomore). I liked how less guarded she was at the beginning, and the narrative of her explaining her intuition about the future written in a style that I really like. The biggest with the character Emme, not the development of her, is how she hangs onto every tiny mistake that she’s made, instead of looking to the future. She laments over everything that could have been, instead of making her future better, and I feel like this captures that thought process of everyone reading it, at one point of another in their own lives. There was a lot of jealousy that went on in the book. Just from Emme to the girls that Brendon previously dated, to Brendon feeling his masculinity threatened when Emme seeks help from a male classmate in math as well as in her writing class. Of course, we see a bit that it was intentional, and they did it to make the other person jealous so no harm, no foul. A couple logistics, the book is told from 1 point of view, which I haven’t read in a while, and it was really fun because it leaves a lot of questions that the reader just has to wait until the end to find out because we don’t have that instant truth-be-told moment from the opposing character’s point of view. * A little spoiler alert* skip to next paragraph if you don’t want to know :) Honestly, the ending was a bit cheesy, with the two characters, Brendon and Emme admitting to each other the signs that they have been seeing about them supposed to be together. While it was sweet, it just seems out of place. I get it with Emme as she was the one that was obsessed with her crystals and the number and horoscopes throughout the entire book and got it from her grandmother, bit Brendon never once mentioned anything about it, and I believe he even said that it was a bit annoying when Emme did it. Another thing, the book just felt long. Page length wise, it’s 290 pages, and most books I read are longer than that, but the writing pace was just slower, which looking back on it, I appreciated. But one thing that came up was that I would read a little bit, go do something else, and then come back to reading it, and completely forget what happened when I left off, so a recommendation for you is to set out some time to read the entire thing. I quite enjoyed the slower pace, because it allowed me to just relax for a little while, when everything I do in my life is crazy fast and hectic. The author knows the tone that teenages take on, and go through the insecurities that pass through our minds daily. As a teenage blogger myself, there have been countless times where I go through the same thoughts as Emme did: What if I just did that instead of this? They don’t think this part of me, I should change myself, and the author also captures the tone at the end of not submitting to the pressures. Of course, if you know me at all, you know that I’ve been a bit more into graphic design lately, and so one thing I have got to comment on is the cover. Honestly, I didn’t choose to read the book based on the cover (which is a good thing because you should never judge a book by its cover) but it is part of the overall appeal of the book. If you are just passing by it, it’s the first impression that it makes. I like the darker colors, because it recognizes all the darkness that Emme is going through, throughout the book. Looking back at the cover, after finishing the book makes me realize one thing about the cover. The main idea that connects this book together is the horoscopes and numerology, and I think that the cover could have done without the giant star in the middle and could have gone for a subtle background with the different signs on it. But then again, it’s just my opinion, nothing bashing the author or the cover artist. Overall I give the book a 6/10 (3/5 stars). While there were parts that I didn’t completely like, there was enough of the good parts that made up for it. There were a couple plot holes that I found (or it could also just be me missing the parts) but it wasn’t that big of a deal because the overall idea was still presently clear. The ending was nice and sweet as it tied the whole romance together, but a bit cliche at that, but I don’t dislike it; I love a good happily ever after ending so that was all good. I recommend this book if you want a novel that takes place over a longer period of time, and if you have a good chunk of time to read it. I know this review was a little all over the place, which is very unlike me for a review, but that’s just all my thoughts I had while, and after finishing the book. As always, I want to know what you think about the book: have you read it? Will you go and purchase it? Leave me all your thoughts in the comments below or find me on social media, @BrookeEvans2001 on Twitter and @thecozylittlebooknook on Instagram. AND don’t forget to come back tomorrow where I kick off my April’s A Post A Day challenge with the schedule of all the posts! ~Brooke Hey everyone! Today I have an sweet excerpt from one of Entangled soon to be released books, True North by L.E. Sterling, whom from which I will also have a guest post for sometime in April for my April's A-Post-A-Day challenge. Anyways, here's the excerpt and I will have a preorder link for you at the end! True North - Excerpt “Let me finish. I have a job to do. I’m obliged to do the best job I can. Not just because I work for Storm but because that’s who I am. That job is to protect you, Lu.” I turn my head, unable to bear even another second. I’ve had my fill of Jared’s merc routine. Gentle fingers coax me back again until I’m just inches from Jared’s glittering eyes. They look feral in the moonlight. “But Lu.” He breathes my name like it’s a full sentence. “It’s a good thing that’s my job, because… Don’t you know I can’t even help myself?” He’s so close it’s as though the boundaries of our flesh have disappeared. And within one breath and the next, his lips are on mine. Soft, warm, molding me to his mouth. Then, hungrier, he pulls me closer, seeking more. I’m dizzy with the taste of him on my lips, in my mouth. When my strength gives out, I slump onto his chest and he holds me tighter. I can barely react to the blazing warmth of his body full down the length of me, the scratchy feeling of his shirt decal under my fingers. There’s a fire in me, too, and with his sudden nip to my lip, it ignites. I’m feverish for him. Jared’s chest is molten rock under my hands. I’m struck with a desire to run kisses up his neck, to just behind his earlobe, just to hear the quick suck of his breath. I grab his hair and pull him tighter still. My lips sting from trying to get closer, closer, and rubbing too hard up against his teeth. Jared tries to hold them back but I can feel his incisors sharpen, his growl deepen, his eyes flip to a luminescent green in the darkness of the garden as he drinks me in. And just as suddenly as it started, he takes me by the shoulders and pulls me away. I sway on the patio bench like a rag doll, cold and dazed. The garden hums with some secret life, bugs and frogs, but it’s just Jared and me here. Touching a finger to my swollen lips, I watch him. He pants as though he’s kicked the living tar out of someone, a glassy expression to his feline eyes. He doesn’t take his hands off me, but he isn’t going to bring me close again, either. And that’s what makes me explode. “What kind of game are you playing with me, anyhow?” I scream at him, thankful that the garden is empty for my tirade. I hope you all enjoyed that, and as promised, here's the link to preorder the book off Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1633755959/ref=x_gr_w_bb_sout?ie=UTF8&tag=x_gr_w_bb_sout-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1633755959&SubscriptionId=1MGPYB6YW3HWK55XCGG2
Let me know all your thoughts about the excerpt thus far, and as always, you can also find me on my social medias: @BrookeEvans2001 on Twitter and @thecozylittlebooknook on Instagram. Don't forget to follow me there, and check out my post from yesterday about my new challenge for the month of April! I will be back soon with another post-most likely a review, and I will see you then! ~Brooke Hi Everyone! I’m here today with some news that I briefly announced in yesterday’s post and here’s me elaborating on it and actually telling you what it is!
So to start off I’m sure anyone who is on Youtube during the month of December has seen the challenge of VLOGMAS, where vloggers and youtubers post 1 vlog/video a day throughout the month of December, and this is where the idea of my challenge stems from. Obviously, if you read the title of the post, then you already know what this is about, but essentially, my goal is to post at least once a day, for the month of April, and since I have no creativity whatsoever, it is called APRIL’S A POST A DAY. Since the new year, I’ve been neglecting my blog a little bit, and I have so many guest posts and reviews that I need to post, and just get done in general, so most of them will be appearing in this challenge. Honestly, if I didn’t do this challenge, there’s a slight chance that I might only post maybe once a week, and Camp Nanowrimo is also happening in April :) I’ve been noticing a lack of posts from some of the blogs that I follow, and with everyone busy in school and with work, it’s understandable but I invite anyone and everyone who wants to join me in this, to do so. It’s a bit later of notice than I had anticipated on giving for this but here it is anyways! Here’s a couple examples of what you can look forward to in April, and of course, I will have an update post with all the posts I have planned :)
So I guess that this post isn’t the best one that I’ve ever written but I really like this idea of this a post a day challenge and hope that you will like it too, especially because it means a lot more posts for you all! So let me know what you think of this idea, and if you’re excited for it (or anything else otherwise). Leave me all your thoughts in the comments below or find me on social media, @BrookeEvans2001 on Twitter and @thecozylittlebooknook on Instagram. And I will be back soon with another review and to kick off the start of this challenge! ~Brooke Secrets of a Reluctant Princess by Casey Griffin Genre: YA Contemporary Publication Date: March 7, 2017 Format: I was provided with an advanced copy from the publisher for review. In no way was this review influenced by that fact. You can purchase a copy of the book here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1633755932/ref=x_gr_w_bb_sout?ie=UTF8&tag=x_gr_w_bb_sout-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1633755932&SubscriptionId=1MGPYB6YW3HWK55XCGG2 Summary: At Beverly Hills High, you have to be ruthless to survive… Adrianna Bottom always wanted to be liked. But this wasn’t exactly what she had in mind. Now, she’s in the spotlight…and out of her geeky comfort zone. She’ll do whatever it takes to turn the rumor mill in her favor―even if it means keeping secrets. So far, it’s working. Wear the right clothes. Say the right things. Be seen with the right people. Kevin, the adorable sketch artist who shares her love of all things nerd, isn’t exactly the right people. But that doesn’t stop Adrianna from crushing on him. The only way she can spend time with him is in disguise, as Princess Andy, the masked girl he’s been LARPing with. If he found out who she really was, though, he’d hate her. The rules have been set. The teams have their players. Game on. My Thoughts: This book I have a lot of mixed feelings about...there were parts that were loveable while others I struggled to agree with. To put it bluntly, the main character, Adrianna, acts really like a brat and that was my biggest problem with it. Before anyone starts yelling at me, allow me to explain. The book felt more like a middle grade book rather than a YA book as it is marketed as, and given the age of the characters, it is appropriate to market it as that. However, Adrianna seemed to be like in middle school instead of being a 16(?) year old. The writing style was good but the characters themselves weren’t that great. Another big problem I had was with the character development: All the characters were a bit flat. There was no appeal to why any of the characters did anything, and there really was no reason to empathize for them. The situation felt too ideal. It wasn’t realistic enough that others/readers can relate to because like Adrianna ‘magically’ made a friend the first hour within the school day starting. I feel like there’s just not enough to the book. She starts a new school, everyone hates her, she embarrasses herself, she has an unfortunate last name, she gets the boy, etc… Everything is so cliche, and she didn’t even go crazy spending money like any other 16 year old would. I think the main reason that I didn’t enjoy the book is just how i view things, that are very different than how they are viewed in the book. It’s more of a personal thing for me, and I know many people (such as my little sister) who would love this book. (Maybe I can get her to read it and write a review from her point of view?? I’ll see about that haha). I do feel for the Adrianna. Personally, if my parents hit it big selling toilet supplies, and uproot my entire life, I might freak out a little just like she did. But there are upsides: she was bullied at her old school so moving to a new place would be the perfect time to start anew and build a new character for yourself. And where else is better than Los Angeles?? The center of the entertainment world. Where many of the most brilliant creative minds to ever exist reside. And with your parents getting a new show and 2 new brick and mortar houses, there’s a lot of monetary benefits to come. I would’ve just stuck the humiliation out and then laugh at all the haters when the TV show strikes it big and I have a whole new wardrobe and a bunch of other things because isn’t that what the Kardashians are doing? While we’re all laughing and hating on them, we still watch their show and they earn millions. The ending really didn’t impress me that much. Instead of a 16 year old, Andy really sounded like she was 12 and her entire social life had been uprooted and that nothing is going her way and oh no, the sky is falling etc...Well i guess in some ways this is true but her tone is just so immature. The entire thing with the paparazzi reminds me a lot of another Entangled book, How Willa Got Her Groove Back and Finn with his entire paparazzi incident. It’s a huge cultural change going from a nobody to someone that everyone either wants to be or everyone makes fun of. Overall, I give the book a 4/10 (2/5 stars). I feel really bad for giving it such a bad rating but for me, the work just didn’t work or appeal to me very much. The writing is very good, and it’s nothing personal to the author at all and as I said before, I know many people who would like the book. The character development was the biggest issue for me, and so if that’s something that doesn’t bother you, go read the book. Also if you’re the type of person who likes to read the ‘rags to riches’ reality TV show stuff, then this is the book for you. ANOTHER THING: I have a guest post from the author from earlier this week, that you can check out here: http://thecozylittlebooknook.weebly.com/blog/secrets-of-a-reluctant-princess-guest-post So what did you think about the review? I want to know your thoughts as I’m still trying to sort out mine :3. Leave me all your thoughts in the comments below or find me on social media, @BrookeEvans2001 on Twitter and @thecozylittlebooknook on Instagram. ALSO!! Look forward to a very special announcement for something that I have never done before on this blog coming TOMORROW!! I will talk to all of y’all soon! ~Brooke Hey Everyone! Welcome back to my blog and if by some chance you just stumbled here, HI! I'm Brooke and this is my blog where I talk about all things bookish! Today, I have got a treat for you! Many of you know, I love guest posts, and meeting new authors and that's exactly what we have today, in addition to a cover reveal for Jessika Fleck's newest book: THE CASTAWAYS! Granted, the cover was revealed a couple days ago but I still have it here! The post is about Jessika's publishing and writing journey so without further ado and my rambling, i'll let you get to reading it yourself! Hi there, The Cozy Little Book Nook readers! I can’t even tell you how excited I am to be here. I’m a big fan of cozy book nooks. Seriously, in my house, if there’s a nook and it works to throw a pile of pillows and a stack of books there, it happens. Better yet if it’s near the fireplace and there’s a cat curled up and napping in said nook! As release day for my YA debut, THE CASTAWAYS, approaches, I’m finding it hard not to reflect pretty deeply on this journey of mine. When I began writing I had no idea what I was doing. Truly. I was a young mom in need of a creative outlet and chose to write a story. But as I progressed, I got better. And, before too long, I was head-over-heels smitten with creating characters and writing all of the words and making new worlds come to life. Eventually, I completed my first novel. It was a mess, mind you, but it was all mine. It was then I realized that maybe I could do this. Maybe, one day, I could have a book published. I researched. I read articles and blogs and entered writing contests. Then I wrote another novel. Whereas my first book had taken an entire year to put to paper (it was roughly the size of two whole books or one Steven King volume), this next one was finished in four months. After that, I worked to perfect a query letter. It was bad. My query letters are still bad. Despite my best efforts, I have no trouble admitting I stink at query/blurb/pitch writing. ::waves apologetically at agent and editors and publishers:: Nevertheless, after around seventy rejection letters, I landed an agent. Yay! Fast forward three years and three unsuccessful attempts at selling a book, and my agent and I decided to go our separate ways. It’s not often talked about, but it happens more than you realize for a multitude of reasons. And it’s okay. Sometimes you need to move on in order to grow. Enter: Brenda Drake’s #PitMad. A few months later and on a complete whim, I posted this tweet: #YA #PitMad An island of castaways,a bloody war,time travel: Olive runs from bullies & lands in a worse trap.Mean Girls+Lord of the Flies. My (now) editor, Theresa Cole, ‘liked’ and requested it. That was in December, 2014 and I had an offer of publication from Entangled TEEN by February, 2015. It was a total on-top-of-a-rainbow-I-can’t-believe-I-did-this type of moment for me. I’ve since gotten another publishing deal for a YA fantasy called THE OFFERING (Swoon Reads/Macmillan: Fall 2018) and signed with an amazing agent. I’m literally living my dream. It’s a surreal sort of place to be. All of a sudden I’ve gone from writing stories I think are cool on my laptop to OMG people are going to read these stories I once wrote for fun on my laptop! And, how the heck did I get here? While I like to say I’m lucky (it’s true) and the stars aligned (also true) my getting here had a lot to do with persistence and hard work. It’s sort of cheesy, but you’ll hear it from most seasoned authors: persistence is key. And, really, you can apply this to all sorts of goals. Regardless of whether you’re trying to get a book deal or earn a scholarship or win first place in a pie eating contest, it’s never silly to keep shooting for the stars. Even after several ‘fails’. Because all of those sayings... if at first you don’t succeed... fall down get back up again... they actually have merit. Don’t get me wrong, it’s hard work to persist. But. Dreaming big and being inspired and having passion, those things are so important. Without all of that, my goodness, where would we be? Olive’s motto in THE CASTAWAYS is just be. It’s like her own version of ‘you do you’, which can mean something unique to each person. My just be is more a... do what you love and happiness is sure to follow. What’s your just be? Author bio: Jessika Fleck is an author, unapologetic coffee drinker, and knitter — she sincerely hopes to one day discover a way to do all three at once. Until then, she continues collecting vintage typewriters and hourglasses, dreaming of an Ireland getaway, and convincing her husband they NEED more kittens. Her YA debut, THE CASTAWAYS (Entangled TEEN), releases 4/3/17. Her next YA novel, THE OFFERING (Swoon Reads/Macmillan) is due out in the fall, 2018. Jessika is represented by Victoria Marini of the Irene Goodman Literary Agency. What do you guys think of the cover and the guest post? Is there any questions you have? Personally, I love reading about author's publishing journey, mainly because it gives me a little bit of hope, and it's just fun to see a little of the behind-the-scenes of the book/publishing world.
Anyways, who's preordered the book already? I'm looking forward to reading it so let me know what your thoughts are once it comes out! Leave me all your thoughts in the comments below or find me on social media, @BrookeEvans2001 on Twitter and @thecozylittlebooknook on Instagram. I'm going to start posting a bit more regularly on here now, but no promises. So come back soon to see what else I have! (Hint: I have a lot more author guest posts!) ~Brooke Hey everyone! To start of this week, I have a guest post for you by Casey Griffin, the author of the new YA book, Secrets of a Reluctant Princess!! This post is about her favorite parts of writing and how the idea of a book comes to be! So without much more of my rambling, here's...Casey Griffin!! The When and Where: There are some things about my writing process that I can control and some I can’t. Sometimes I have to be flexible when it comes to where and when I write. There’s definitely nothing routine about my life, so the same has to go for my writing. I have a “day” job that keeps me in a remote camp for ten days at a time, working thirteen-hour days. I have to use every spare moment I can, whether it’s in my room at camp, on the bus to work, or on my breaks. When I get home for my ten days off with my busy family, my super supportive and understanding partner lets me hide away in my office for hours at a time. When I’m getting close to a deadline and it’s crunch time, I become a vampire, working through the night while everyone’s in bed and there are no distractions The What: Once I have an idea in my head, I always start with an outline. I’m the kind of person who likes to feel organized, to see it all laid out in front of me. Doing so allows me to know if I’ve missed anything or can up the stakes in the plot before I even start. By the time I put pen to paper, I can already imagine the book as though it’s a movie in my head, so the moment I start writing, it all just flows. If I ever come across a stumbling block, I know I need to return to my outline to work out some kinks. The How: My first draft is always in a notebook. It just helps my creative juices flow and something about it makes me feel like I’m allowed to make mistakes and cross things out. If I try to write a rough draft on a computer, I just end up editing as I go, and it stifles my creativity. I usually try to complete the rough draft start to finish before touching anything up or else it starts to play mind games with me when I go back to write the rest. Finally, once it’s in decent shape, I print it out in order to edit. Words on paper just read differently than on a screen, and I find it easier to find mistakes. I highly recommend it. What’s Next: What don't I want to be working on right now? There’s just not enough time to work on all the projects I’m excited about exploring—both YA and adult. But I'm very driven when it comes to writing novels, and I’m always on the go with at least one project. Now that I’ve just finished the third novel in my Rescue Dog Romance series, I’m writing a proposal for another contemporary teen romance novel (geek couture related, of course). And if I ever learn how to manipulate time, I’d eventually like to self-publish my book Dreamcatchers (plus the rest of the series), which got me to the finals in the ABNA contest. So that's it for this post today! Let me know what your favorite part about this post was and any other thoughts you may have. ALSO: Look about for the review for this book towards the end of the week! In the meanwhile, I have another guest post on Wednesday so keep an eye out for that.
Don't forget to leave me all your thoughts in the comments below or find me on social media, @BrookeEvans2001 on Twitter and @thecozylittlebooknook on Instagram. ~Brooke This is my stop during the book blitz for Behind the Lens by Cassandra Giovanni. This book blitz is organized by Lola's Blog Tours. The book blitz runs from 14 till 20 March. You can see the complete blitz schedule here: http://www.lolasblogtours.net/book-blitz-behind-the-lens-by-cassandra-giovanni Behind the Lens (Boys of Fallout #2) By Cassandra Giovanni Genre: Coming of Age Age category: Young Adult/ New Adult Release Date: 14 March, 2017 Blurb: Natalie Scott's life is simple with no strings attached. As a band photographer, she's made metal music her life, and life on tour means no relationships. At least not ones that last and that's the way she likes it. She only has one rule. Don't date or otherwise screw around with the client. But she never said anything about love. Brent Andrews knows Natalie's rules. And he's about to make sure he's an exception to them. All of them. Even ones she didn't know she had. You can find Behind the Lens on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23393232-behind-the-lens You can buy Behind the Lens on Amazon: http://bit.ly/BuyBTL Get book 1 in this series! Book one in this series Out of Beat is available now! You can buy a copy on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Out-Beat-Boys-Fallout-Book-ebook/dp/B01M8LIR8F/ About the Author: Cassandra doesn’t remember a time when she wasn’t writing. In fact, the first time she was published was when she was seven years old and won a contest to be published in an American Girl Doll novel. Since then Cassandra has written more novels than she can count and put just as many in the circular bin. Her personal goal with her writing is to show the reader the character’s stories through their dialogue and actions instead of just telling the reader what is happening. Besides being a writer, Cassandra is a professional photographer known for her automotive, nature and architectural shots. She is happily married to the man of her dreams and they live in the rolling hills of New England their dogs, Bubski and Kanga. For regular updates visit Cassandra’s website and sign up for her newsletter. You can find and contact Cassandra here: - Website: https://cgiovanniauthor.com/ - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CassieGiovanni - Twitter: https://twitter.com/cgiovanniauthor - Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6094287.Cassandra_Giovanni - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cgiovanniauthor/ - Newsletter: http://cgiovanniauthor.us3.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=203d8dfc40f8c412687d68ac1&id=7ae3e3dac3&orig-lang=1 Giveaway There is a cover reveal wide giveaway for the book blitz of Behind the Lens. One winner will win a paperback copy of both Out of Beat and Behind the Lens by Cassandra Giovanni (US Only). And another winner will win an e-copy of both Out of Beat and Behind the Lens by Cassandra Giovanni (International). Link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/1000e4f1213/ What do you guys think of the book? I've yet to find time to read it but looks like something that I'm going to love! If you've read it already, please let me know what you thought of it and let me know if you want to see a review of the book.
Comment down below or find me on social media @BrookeEvans2001 on Twitter and @thecozylittlebooknook on Instagram. ALSO!! If you didn’t already know, I have another instagram account that I’m currently using @OfficialBrookeEvans to post pics of what I’m doing, outside of the bookish world and I’m loving it! Tell me what else you want to see and I will have another post up real soon! ~Brooke |
About me!Brooke's a high schooler who loves to read all sorts of books. She's happy to be able to share all the books she's reading with all of y'all. Archives
June 2020
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