Smashwords Sale! Life Was Cool ebook on sale for $1.00!

Smashwords Read an Ebook Week Sale

March 4-10, 2012

Buy Life Was Cool for $3.99 $1.00

Click here to purchase, and use coupon code  REW75

Kaley’s BFF Jules is an alien clone. That has to be it. Because Jules wouldn’t dress like that or act like that…and she definitely wouldn’t be friends with Meg-a-bitch. LIFE WAS COOL UNTIL YOU GOT POPULAR chronicles the initial incomprehension of what happened to destroy their friendship. But that doesn't last long. Kaley's not losing her best friend without a fight! 


SOME REVIEWS: 


"I thoroughly enjoyed this book from the beginning to the end! Thirteen-year-old protagonist Kaley is both classy and sassy and her loyalty to her friend Jules is admirable, to say the least.
I totally fell in love with Kaley's new friend Maiyuki who is also an independent spirit as well as a willing and able cohort. Blend together a wonderful storyline with some truly memorable characters, add just the right touch of humor, and you've got a great read! Highly Recommended!"
- Sandra McLeod Humphrey


"Kaley is a delightful heroine in this novel. From the start she is loveable as a character, and the reader will find his/herself rooting for her...and at times for Jules as well.

The author takes care with the angst of starting anew: new school, new friends, new interests, etc. This is a natural part of process called "growing up," and this realistic portrayal is what will delight readers the most.

The heart of this novel revolves around Kaley trying to win her friend back. At times I found myself becoming frustrated with her, wanting her to just move on to better things, and better friends. After all, if Jules was truly her friend, would she be so hateful to Kaley, or most importantly, allow others to be? (Think Mean Girls times five).

Billington has created the ultimate monster in the character Meg. It makes me wonder if she herself had to contend with such a character in middle school. After all, haven't we all encountered the one person in school whose sole purpose was to make our daily school lives a living nightmare? I loathed Meg. I loathed everything about her character. In her, the author truly captures a realistic side to the true angst of growing up female.

Since the author has provided us with such a wretch in Meg, she also offers up delightful characters, creating a nice juxtaposition in those who come into Kaley's life. These characters help bring Kaley full circle as a character, and they provide the strength that helps with the pacing of the novel. My personal favorite is Travis, and that is all I will write about him. BUT, I do hope Billington writes a follow-up because I really want to read more about him.

And did I mention the cat fights? No? Ah, well...they are good and funny and clever. This part of the plot was reminiscent of The Parent Trap camp scenes at the start of the film.Like realistic fiction before, Life Was Cool until You Got Popular will strike a chord with readers of all ages, not just the tweens. For readers of Naylor's Alice books, Rennison's Georgia Nicholson books, or Myracle's The Fashion Disaster That Changed My Life, they too will enjoy this novel."

- Wannabe Librarian, Crys

Cover Love #4: Middle Grade edition! (+UPDATES!)

Hello cover lovers,
It's been awhile since I posted one of these. But I have a new favourite book cover - and it's for a middle grade novel!

Debut author Shannon Messenger's cover for The Keeper of Lost Cities is pretty rad, I love the illustration style, and the wind movement and it just looks like an exciting adventure book for middle grade readers, doesn't it? My bet: it IS.

Speaking of covers, I've given The Ballerina & My Best Friend a makeover!

Check it:

Pretty, yes? I think so.

I've been a VERY busy bee lately. I've been putting the finishing touches on Edwina Ray's new short (though it's longer than her other short stories) Guilty Until Proven Innocent, writing a new short YA romance for Sarah Billington, plotting out a series of YA stories all centred around one very eventful Saturday night, preparing my middle grade ebook Life Was Cool Until You Got Popular for PRINT and within days I start on the third round of edits of YA chick lit, The Kiss Off.

The Kiss Off has a cover already and everything.

Yes, it's about girls groping rock stars. But mostly other stuff.

Happy Thursday everyone!

When you finally write "The End"

I finished classes for the semester on Thursday. I have a whole seven weeks to finish writing my Work In Progress. I figured I wasn't that far off the end so I would have it done by this Sunday.

Um, I gotta tell ya, when I have whole days free with nothing else planned? I am PRODUCTIVE.

I had it done LAST Sunday. The one that is 3 days after finishing classes on Thursday - that Sunday.

I walked around all afternoon like this

I live with my older sister now, and she's sick at the moment, and I kept going into her room where she was lying on her deathbed and I just smiled at her and walked out again.

Do any of you other writers get all giddy when you finish a book? It's so exciting, I actually did it! What a feat. It took me four months from coming up with the plot and having a couple of characters, to actually FINISHING it.

Writing a whole novel is a huge undertaking, fellow writers. I hope you realise this each time you churn out another one. You don't merely spend a couple of hours a day on the physical writing, but you spend the WHOLE FOUR MONTHS thinking about your book, your characters. You know? LIVING your story.

Writing for Middle Grade and Young Adult readers, my books are a bit shorter than adult novels, so I definitely hope you adult fiction writers out there get just what a big deal it is, what you accomplish. If you're a writer, whoever you are, reading this. If you're not a writer reading this, well, um... Writing is hard work and I guess I'm informing you of that.

Mind you, this is the first draft. I already know of a couple of scenes that I need to add in, and my awesomely wonderful beta readers are going to tell me if there are any big scenes that need to be slashed and cut out.

In the mean time, I have another book to edit! I'm having lots of fun dreaming up the NEW plot bits to replace the plot I'm choosing to delete. So I'll be deleting many chapters and characters, but inserting heaps of better ones!

So hopefully within the next couple of months I will have not only one but two brand new, polished books to send off to my agent. Hells yeah.

That's all I have for now. Woot for finishing my novel, yeah!