Tuesday, May 30, 2017

FIX ME Cover Reveal + ARC Giveaways!



The time has arrived! FIX ME cover reveal!!!! And right now YA Interrobang is hosting a GIVEAWAY! 3 ARC copies. I do hope you'll enter. Thank you everyone for all your wonderful support.

Here's more info on what the book is about:

Penelope Wryter‘s life has been a mess ever since her sister committed suicide a year ago. Now Pen’s hooked on Fix, an illegal drug that makes her feel, think, and see differently. The hallucinations are intense, but there’s one vision that keeps Pen coming back from more — Nate. He’s the only person who cares about her. Too bad he’s just a side effect of the drug.
Pen knows she’s going nowhere fast. She’s desperate to change. But when she tries to say goodbye to Nate, he professes his love for her making her more confused than ever. Then, when a girl from school goes missing during a bad Fix trip, Pen realizes she may be in a lot more danger than she ever imagined. Unless Pen straightens up and faces reality quick, she might be the next missing girl on the list.







Sunday, May 21, 2017

Update on the List of YA Publishers (some paying advances)

I just wanted to update the list of YA publishers that are accepting submissions directly that pay advances. I'm including some small publishers (that don't pay advances) but that are on the rise and have been doing well in the YA market. Some of these publishers I have listed in the past, but will list again. Some are new to the list, so check carefully. Let's begin!

Flux Books: offers advances on some books
Albert Whitman
Quirk
Entangled: romance first
Sky Pony
Bloomsbury Spark
Charlesbridge: now accepting email submissions
Chronicle 
Page Street: Mac Millan distributes
Polis
Bold Strokes: LGBTQIA


Small Publishers (no advance)

Diversion Books
Blaze
Clean Teen
Pen Name Press
Bookfish

So there you have it! If you know of any more to add to the list, feel free to contact me.

Always read all the guidelines, be professional when emailing! And most of all good luck to you!!!

Thursday, May 11, 2017

Inspiration for FIX ME: Plus Writing Tips

Back in 2004, I was diagnosed bipolar with psychotic features, which began a long journey of taking prescription drugs. It took a lot of years suffering through different kinds of medications. I would suffer mostly of weight gain, headaches, fatigue, depression, the list goes on.

For a period of time, I was in denial about my illness and stopped taking the meds on and off, because one: I thought I didn’t have a mental illness, that my mind was just messin’ with me (wrong) and two: I suffered from so many side effects, it wasn’t funny.

Unfortunately after so many bipolar episodes, I had to come to grips that I was in fact sick, I had a mental illness and I needed medication for it. Luckily over the years I was able to find a combination of drugs that work for me.  

Through all this, my writing grew. I was finishing on my fourth novel and knew I had to think of something new to write. I always love to bring awareness to mental illnesses and depression and always try to incorporate that in my writing.

One day I was thinking of all the side effects prescription medication can have. You know the ones on the commercials that take two minutes to say? I was remembering when I first started taking them. I was still hearing voices at the time, not of my own. During my bipolar attacks, I would imagine things that weren’t there. And deciphering what was real and what wasn’t.

Out in my backyard, I was sitting at my patio and trying to think of something new to write. And all of a sudden, I heard “Just do it!” These are the first three words of FIX ME. I kept hearing “just do it” and so I sat down and wrote the words and spilling out came Pen’s dilemma, taking FIX and wanting to quit. But she had a reason not to, her friend Nate. But the catch to everything was that Nate wasn’t real. He was just a side effect of the drug.

It’s very easy for me to write a character in mental turmoil because I experience it on a daily basis. Every day is different. Sometimes, I’ll have my good days and sometimes bad.

So when it came to write Pen’s story, it came very natural to me. And everything was flowing how it was meant to. I wrote it in 3 months, revised it and sent it off. It took a long time to finally connect, but that’s a different story.

Sometimes it’s really hard to come up with a great idea. I know when I try to force things, it never works out that way. You have to be open for something new, something fresh. Some ways to get ideas: take a walk (without music and listen to nature instead) Sign off the computer and sit outside with a pen and paper. Doing it old school really helps sometimes.    

Also too, I call it “spontaneous writing” where you sit down and write whatever your hearts desire, cats, I love cats (I could write a novel on it) Flowers, I want to keep trying. A poem, poems are great. (that was just an example of spontaneous writing.) It’s easy and fun and you can get a lot of ideas from that too.

Another fun thing to do, other than read what’s out there, is read all the new release blurbs. I’m not telling you to copy their ideas, but just get a feel of what’s out there, what’s working. Think of something you haven’t come across.


One thing I’ve learned is that loving your idea and letting it grow on paper is a wonderful gift. Even if you never get it published, it was something you were committed to for a long period of time. And remember writing your ideas down will always be a good idea.

Monday, May 1, 2017

FIX ME is now officially on Amazon and Goodreads

Today is a celebration!!! FIX ME is now officially on Goodreads and Amazon.

I just want to thank everyone for your wonderful support. Hope to see you there.