Get Undertow for Just 99 Cents!

Reader-friends! I hope you're doing FAB!

I'm hard at work on my next release--an action-adventure story set in the deep woods of south-Mississippi.

If you'd like a sneak-peek, the first chapter draft is up on Wattpad here: http://www.wattpad.com/story/4328563-21-days-work-in-progress

My Target release date is December 29. I need a title for it. #conundrum

In the meantime, I've put Undertow on sale for 99 cents!

I know, "That's CRAZY!" you say, but I have a lot of teen readers, and they want to read the whole series. So I'm doing my best to be accommodating.

Grab your copy today and get lost in this bestselling romantic family-saga all set on the gorgeous beaches of south Alabama.

Purchase links are here:

UNDERTOW

(currently 99 cents!)

Amazon: http://smarturl.it/UTAA

iTunes: http://bit.ly/17fVcZK

Google Play: http://bit.ly/1bWeieu

B&N: http://smarturl.it/UTeBN

Kobo: http://smarturl.it/UTKobo

Print copies

Amazon: http://smarturl.it/UTAApb

CreateSpace: http://bit.ly/18yKqTb

DRAGONFLY

(eBook is FREE!)

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1ldmNG5

iTunes: http://bit.ly/13ixoDA

Google Play: http://bit.ly/NlB2cb

B&N: http://bit.ly/1fJJaLN

Kobo: http://smarturl.it/DFKobo

Print copies

Amazon: http://smarturl.it/DfAApb

CreateSpace: http://bit.ly/Zrglyq

If you haven't noticed, I'm not blogging as much these days--I'm writing more! But you can always check in with me on my Facebook page (link)!

Have a super week, reader-friends, and remember to leave reviews~

Lightening Round #WIN! & Teaser Tuesdays

I AM still in the cave, in case you're wondering. But I also promised to help with some promotions before everything blew up over here, and that's what this is...

Update--JRM is doing better! Every day a little more movement, a little less pain, and soon, hopefully, he'll be off the couch more. Still three months of crutches, but we're being positive. It could've been much worse. #SOthankful

In other news, several lovely bloggers are helping me spread the word about my new book The Truth About Letting Go (link), which is over there in the sidebar > > >

And to help them, I'm running a special "Lightening Round Giveaway" contest to for BOTH The Truth About Faking (link) AND The Truth About Letting Go!

Here are a few of the places you can #WIN (names are links):

• Stacey Wallace Benefiel
• Cheri Lasota
• Elle Strauss
• LM Preston
• Cindy Hogan

You can also click here to enter and #WIN! Contest ends Sunday, April 7!

Quick Note: As soon as I've got something for you, I'm thinking of doing "Teaser Tuesday" posts for DRAGONFLY and DRIFTWOOD (the two books releasing next). Would you like that? Thoughts?

OK--back to the cave with me! Have a super weekend and week, reader-friends~ <3

Writing Sample Tag - POV

So I was chatting with Sheri at Writer's Ally (link) about killing a MC (main character). She did it, I did it, then she suggested we do corresponding posts today. (Me: Sure! :o)

She's looking at dialogue; my bit is on point of view (POV).

My second MS is a prequel-sequel to my very first book Dragonfly. The story is told through three journals given to the MC of Dragonfly, and it's like Rashomon--one complete account of the events is told followed by a second, and then the third. And in each version, the reader learns more and/or sees a different side of the story.

It was a lot of fun to write, and I think it turned out well. It was the first time I ever had a beta reader say she read something I wrote in one sitting. Wow. (Just between us, that made my life.)

I don't have a title I'm happy with, so I've been calling it Found Objects. It's older YA, possibly New Adult, complete at 80K words. And since it's a prequel-sequel, readers should know who's going to die going in. The Why behind the death (the secret revealed in Dragonfly) is a more interesting plot driver, IMO.

It's also the first time I attempted a male POV. See what you think!

Plot summary:

In the late-1970s three friends graduate from high school with big dreams.

Alex dreams of leaving the small, coastal town where they grew up and taking the art world by storm; Bill plans on becoming a super-rich developer and transforming their hometown into a high-end resort destination; Meg dreams of marrying Bill and taking her place as a leader of local society.

The three realize their dreams, but manipulations along the way create secrets that leave one isolated, one heartbroken, and the third dead.

 Meg

May 31

            Margaret Louise Kyser. Mrs. William S. Kyser. William and Margaret Kyser. Bill and Meg. Bill and Meg Kyser. Bill and Meg Kyser cordially invite you to their estate on Bono Island…

            I love starting a new journal. The blank pages just waiting to be filled with all the fun and exciting things about to happen to me.
            It’s almost as fun as planning my wedding. And planning my wedding is so much more fun than going to high school.

I’ve actually been planning my wedding since I was a little girl dressed up in my grandmother’s chiffon nightgowns and scarves. Meeting Billy provided the face to my mystery groom, and what a perfect face. I knew the minute I saw him that he was the one. Tall and slim with soft brown hair and beautiful blue eyes—it was love at first sight.

             We’ll live happily every after, of course, with little Will, John, Lucy and Megan. Will named after Billy and John for my daddy. Lucy is for my best friend Alexandra Marie LaSalle, who has the coolest name ever. We call her Lexy for short, and I know, Lucy’s not the same as Lexy. But it reminds me of Lexy, and I want my little girl to be just like her—creative, beautiful, full of flair, and loyal to the end.

Lexy

May 31

Salt. Fresh fish. Warm, moist humidity, moldering wood. The air smells like bright oranges and deep reds, white-hot yellows and brown. Low buzzing of construction down to my right, a strong rush of wind, pushing my hair back. Crash… sizzle. Crash… sizzle. The ocean is rough and happy today, beckoning me to run down and join in its dance.

So my best friend Meg gave me a journal as a graduation present, and here I am writing in it. It’s funny. I'd actually considered following her example and keeping a record of all my thoughts and feelings. Then she surprised me with this gift. Let’s see…

It’s a crazy time for all of us. So much is changing. This morning I decided to run to my usual escape down by the shore to relax and find my center. I was meditating when I remembered being a little girl and stripping off all my clothes so I could run and jump naked into the surf. It was always so warm and swirly, and I would pretend I could turn into a mermaid and swim deep down to rule some magical kingdom.

               The memory made me smile, and I peeped through one eye at my surroundings. Nope, too many early vacationers to attempt a repeat performance. Even here on Fort Morris Road, the beach condos are taking over. Damn Bill Kyser. His big plan is only going to make it all worse.

Bill

May 31

            Getting married right out of high school was not in the plan.

Bryant and I had the entire thing mapped out. We even ran it past the retired veterans at the small business center in Fairhaven. They were impressed. Said if we could convince farmers south of Fort Morris to stop planting sweet potatoes and cotton in the sand and sell us their land, this thing could work.

Then Meg tells me she’s pregnant.

I can’t believe I was so stupid, and after how careful I’ve been. Damn Sadie Hawkins. That’s when it happened. We’d all been drinking, and Meg was dancing around in that short skirt. We got back to Dad’s truck, and I couldn’t wait to pull her onto my lap...

Careless. Not staying focused. Bryant’s going to sh-t, and after two years of planning.

Bryant and I got our big idea one summer in Florida. We’d spent the first two months working on my uncle’s farm, driving combines and stacking hay bales. It was hard work and in this heat I hated it. I told Bryant we'd get the farms out of here if it was the last thing we did. He laughed, but Bryant’s a good guy. We’ve been friends since we were kids.

Bryant’s grandparents own a house in South Walton, and for ten years developers have been going down there, taking old worthless beachfronts and converting them into luxury beach communities. Some have full-time residents and some are rentals.

I decided we'd bring that to our town. We’d turn those swaths of open sand around Ocean Pass and Lost Key into tourist dollars with our names stamped on every one. It was going to work, and it was going to work big.

Now I see it all slipping away.

* * *

So there you have it. I feel like the voices are distinct, but I'm the writer. You tell me. In the case of my one male voice, I tried to keep it short, focused, driving. Just the facts, ma'am. (That's also his personality.)

What do you think? How do you guys handle different points of view? Ever tried it? Ever killed a MC? 

Til Thursday~ <3  

And don't forget to visit Sheri's blog! (link)

On Life Imitating Art

First, thank you all for the nice FB comments and emails about the blog. I'm really glad you guys are enjoying it, and I wish I could figure out how to make it easier to leave comments here. I do enjoy reading your feedback!

Second, continuing my self-assigned homework, I'm half-way through Sarah Dessen's The Truth About Forever, and I like it! Also, oy, with the eerie coincidences again! But it's good. I'd describe it as a "gentle read." I don't know what I mean by that, but it's just the thought I keep having.

Now to the Life v. Art debate!

Without being too spoilerish, there's a scene in one of my books where a character discovers her significant other has had an affair and loses it. Like big-time over the top, trash the house, throw everything into the yard loses it.

I've never really been one of those displays of temper sorts of people, so it was an interesting scene to write. I thought of Lisa "Left Eye" Lopez burning the house down or Angela Bassett's character in Waiting to Exhale loading up the car with all his stuff and then setting it on fire.

I'm always watching the cops in those scenes. They're almost apologetic about having to arrest the "love has made me crazy" person. It's all very fascinating to me.

The difference with my particular character is she would never burn her house down. It's as much a part of her identity as it is significant other's--possibly more. It's the repeated reason they're together. The dream. I really wanted to set them up as two people who care about each other but never really know each other. You know the type.

They stayed together because... well, they look great together and they're rich. And occasionally there were chances the could've gotten closer, but they just never pursued those opportunities. Work, kids, etc.

Anyway, so I was working this out around Thanksgiving, and I'd just polished off the house-destruction scene when my dad asked me if I'd heard about what happened with Tiger Woods. Not being as much of a golfer as Dad (or at all), I was all, "Huh?"

So it was another eerie moment hearing those first news reports right on the heels of writing a similar scene. Tiger's wife beat up the car with a golf club. It was close.

But my character would never go after the guy. She wouldn't know how or even why. Nope, she goes after the other female. Sort of. I like to imagine what happens next is unexpected. You'll have to read the book...

So life imitating art or art imitating life? That happened more than once as I was writing, and I decided to take it as meaning I was successfully creating real characters experiencing real life events in the course of telling the story I wanted to tell. Yep. That's what it was.

Finally, not to be cliche and not at all to say "poor Tiger Woods," but man. Talk about dirty laundry aired for the world. I wasn't alive yet (or old enough to be aware), but it seems like nobody cared when it was Warren Beatty or Wilt Chamberlain. I mean, news people didn't go after those guys, they came after us saying "Look, look what I did!" Right?

And like, why didn't those guys get sent to therapy?

Is it because he's a golfer? Is it because he was married? Did he become the leader of the Christian Coalition when I wasn't looking?

I'm just saying. I'd be fine with letting that story die.

Gotta dash now, kids. I'm on deck to sling that hash at the elementary school. Love volunteer work--and, hey, SFES parents, we need more helpers!