Attention all YA Book Bloggers and Librarians

FIX ME is now available on NETGALLEY!

It took me a long time to get to this spot and now it's available to read! FIX ME will release this November from Flux Books, and I couldn't be happier. Flux has worked really hard to get my book ready for publication. It's been a dream working with my editor, Mari Kesselring. She helped fill in the gaps and make the story whole.

I'm thrilled and excited and nervous as ever. To all the writers out there, trying to break into the YA market, never give up! If you keep pushing your book out there, keep submitting, keep writing, something will happen eventually. Never give up hope!

FIX ME Goodreads Giveaway! Ends July 31st

 
 

    Goodreads Book Giveaway
 

   

       
   

   

     

          Fix Me
     
     

          by Lisa M. Cronkhite
     

     

         
            Giveaway ends July 31, 2017.
         
         
            See the giveaway details
            at Goodreads.
         
     
   
   

    Enter Giveaway

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.

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!!!

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.

FIX ME is now available for pre-order on Amazon. 

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.

For Reluctant Readers: Because I am one.

Today I’m going to be talking about reluctant readers—because I am one. Now, I know what you’re thinking, how can you be a reluctant reader when you write novels? Easy, writing is much different. But let’s get into that later.

Reluctant readers can be grouped into two categories, ones that can read, but choose not to and the ones that are struggling with reading, poor comprehension skills, poor spelling. So basically, a lot of poor things to have to do reading.

I know I’m a reluctant reader because I struggled with reading all together. I was in those slow reading groups when I was in grade school, from kindergarten all the way up to 7^th grade. In 8^th grade things were getting better for me, I think because I was keeping a journal. That really helped.

Then there was a really long period of time that I didn’t read at all. Through my high school years was a horrible struggle for me because I was getting bullied all the time. But that is a different story, but it affected me deeply. Reluctant readers can also have low self-esteem.

I didn’t pick up reading for enjoyment until I was working as a bank teller, at the drive-thru—when I was pregnant with my second child. I would work super long days and it was really slow at the drive-thru, and we were in a separate building, so it was easy to pick up a book and read. That’s when I started reading Anne Rice. I was so tuned in, I just loved it.

After the sixth book of Anne Rice, I was starting to get bored of that. Then I stopped again for a while, and a few years later discovered Carol Goodman. So I read four more books by her and again, I was getting bored.

Then in 2004, I had a major setback in my life and was diagnosed Bipolar. I was such at a loss. Yet, after all this time in my life, I was going back to deeply struggling again. It wasn’t until my therapist suggested writing that I slowly crawled myself out of the hole I was in. That’s when reading became a necessity for me.

I still struggle with my reading habits. I was picky then, and I’m still picky now. And I am still a poor speller too, lol. Even to this day, I continue to struggle with things, not just reading and writing, but with a lot of things in my life.

I would go to the library and read about 20 book jackets and pick out 2 to go home with and maybe, maybe read one of them. I only read about 10 to 15 books a year.

The point I’m trying to make here is that you can be a reluctant reader, but still love to read books. It’s okay to be picky. If you don’t like it, get a new book. Keep trying. It’s a hit or miss for me a lot, but once I find that book that speaks to me, I read it all the way through joyously. So it’s very much worth the fight to find that right book to read.

I’ve read some books I didn’t like too, to challenge myself. I know I can do it, as I’ve done it before. But it’s a big challenge for me. It’s worth it, because those books that I do love, the reading becomes that much more enjoyable.

So for those of you who are struggling with reading, introduce yourself to the joys of writing too. Keep a journal or something like that. Hone in on your interests and give the library a try. Check out some books. If you read a chapter or two and don’t like it, move on to the next. This isn’t required reading time anymore. You can pick and choose whatever and whenever you like. It’s like watching a movie. If you don’t like it, you usually turn the channel right? It’s as easy as turning the channel onto something else. Challenge yourself to find that book! It’s there, waiting for you to read. You just have to motivate yourself to search for that book.

Reading can be really difficult for me. I need it to be real quiet and in a well lit area. I always want to be comfortable, sitting outside in the warm breeze. Or on my comfy couch with the recliner out. So another important thing to reading is the atmosphere. Make yourself as comfortable as possible. Some people can read anywhere, whether you’re in the doctor’s office or some other distracting place. I just can’t do that. I’m too anxious then. So again, it is perfectly okay if you need to have it quiet.

I will always be a reluctant reader. But that will never stop me from reading books, because once I’m in the zone of reading, it’s an amazing gift. I will never deprive myself of that. And neither should you.