Hello everyone! I have decided to do something a little different this year for the blog's second blogoversary! This year, each day I will have a post or two from authors and bloggers that I ADORE! Many of them will have giveaways specific to the post, as well as the overall giveaway! The big giveaway has tons of prizes, from swag to signed copies of books!
Please welcome the queen of flirt, Rachel Harris!
Interview:
1. What's your favorite part of being an author? Your least favorite?
Favorite part by far is the fans. Going to conferences and signings to meet them, chatting via email and social media, it totally makes my day. I'm a bookaholic myself, so I love getting to share that with other readers, and seeing them excited about something *I* wrote is just incredible. My least favorite would probably be the balance struggle. I'm a homeschool mom, so it's a constant battle trying to get in ALL THE THINGS during a day. I usually tell people that between writing, homeschooling, marketing, housecleaning, family time, and general health, I can juggle two or maybe three awesome...the rest tend to crash around me lol. Then I reevaluate, make adjustments, and pick two or three other ones to juggle the next week. But it's a great life :)
2. What's your favorite thing to do when not writing?
Read :) If I'm not reading, then it's playing games with my family. We are really into a board game kick right now
3. What fall releases are you most looking forward to this year?
Assuming we are not talking about my own (Which I DESPERATELY want!) , yes? (*grin*) Honestly, I never seem to know when books are releasing anymore, which kind of makes it fun for me . . . all of a sudden, an author I love releases a book and I'm like "SCORE!" I do have some fabulous friends releasing books, several of these I've gotten early looks at, and they are sooooo good --> Make It Right by Megan Erickson for sure, Caged in Winter by Brighton Walsh, Breaks by Amy Evans, Make it Real by Sabrina Elkins...oh, and Stone Cold Touch by JLA :) *Plans how to steal Rachel's copy of Stone Cold Touch*
4. What's your favorite writing snack?
Peanut M&Ms!! But since I can't have that EVERY time I write, y go-to is normally popping open another Diet Mt. Dew, or maybe some raisins. (Nom, nom, nom!)
5. Any advice to aspiring authors?
I have two tips that I always give when doing talks. I add others, depending on what the topic is, but these two are my number one favorites:
Tip #1: Read often and widely. Read within your favorite genre so you know what is out there, especially if you want to write in it, and see what the expectations are. Then expand your world by pulling inspiration from way outside your genre.
· Write YA contemporary? Maybe try reading adult and/or historicals.
· Write historical? Give fantasy and suspense a shot.
· You never know what will inspire you...or even where your voice truly is...until you try.
Tip #2: But don't stop at reading, either. Pay attention.
· What made you smile at that passage? What had you skimming those pages? What spoke to you, what did you hate, what had you fuming at your book yet determined to find out what happens?
· These are all clues to helping you find your unique voice and style.
Excerpt:
The Fine Art of Pretending
• ALY •
ALY’S HOUSE, 5:45 p.m.
I sit at my vanity, staring at the free gift-with-purchase bag stuffed with makeup, and try to remember which products Kara used yesterday. The idea of a beauty regime is as foreign to me as losing a volleyball match, but desperate times call for desperate measures. After applying the coral blush to the “apples” of my cheeks (another new term for my vocabulary), I grab the berry-stained lip gloss I’m almost certain is right. I unscrew the cap, pump the wand, and raise it to my mouth.
A sudden rap on the door makes the wand skitter across my cheek, leaving a zigzag stripe of Blackberry Bloom in its wake.
“Lovely,” I mutter, yanking a handful of tissues out of a crochet-covered box. Regardless of how often I’ve watched Gabi and Kara do this, obviously makeup application skills cannot be obtained through osmosis. I toss the balled-up Kleenex into the waste bin and bellow, “Come in, Kaitie!”
Instead of my younger sister, Brandon lets himself in, a notebook with sketched-out game plans tucked under his arm. When he spots me in the corner, he does a double-take, eyebrows shooting up over his jade-colored eyes. “I see Kara got to you. Should I even ask why?”
Well, at least he noticed.
In reply, I walk to the huge mirror over my bed that acts as a massive picture frame for my ultimate Wall of Shame. My feet sink into the plush yellow comforter, and I point to the latest entry.
“Exhibit A,” I tell him. “Junior Prom.”
Brandon hops up beside me, leans in to inspect the picture, and nods. “I don’t get it.”
I exhale and stare at the picture taken three months ago—two weeks after Adam and I had broken up. Adam was my first boyfriend. My only boyfriend. And up until our breakup, I assumed things were going great. We’d been going out for four months, and I’d foolishly thought he could be the one. Maybe not the forever one, but the one for a good while. The one to see me as desirable.
The one to break my curse.
“When I added this picture the other night,” I say, “I had an epiphany.”
Brandon scratches the back of his neck and squints. “An epiphany?”
“Yes, an epiphany. Look again. Do you not notice a demoralizing theme to the dance pictures?” I pause for him to inspect the evidence and sigh when he shrugs. “All my dates are friends, Brandon. Every Homecoming, Winter Formal, and Spring Fling picture shows me with a bunch of girlfriends, an ex-boyfriend pity date, or a just-a-friend guy date. Starting with you.”
Synopsis:
According to the guys at Fairfield Academy, there are two types of girls: the kind you hook up with, and the kind you're friends with. Seventeen-year-old Alyssa Reed is the second type. And she hates it. With just one year left to change her rank, she devises a plan to become the first type by homecoming, and she sets her sights on the perfect date—Justin Carter, Fairfield Academy’s biggest hottie and most notorious player.
With 57 days until the dance, Aly launches Operation Sex Appeal and sheds her tomboy image. The only thing left is for Justin actually to notice her. Enter best friend Brandon Taylor, the school’s second biggest hottie, and now Aly’s pretend boyfriend. With his help, elevating from “funny friend” to “tempting vixen” is only a matter of time.
But when everything goes according to plan, the inevitable “break up” leaves their friendship in shambles, and Aly and Brandon with feelings they can’t explain. And the fake couple discovers pretending can sometimes cost you the one thing you never expected to want.
I write humorous love stories about sassy girls-next-door who occasionally stumble through life (and relationships), and the protective men who cherish them. Vibrant settings, humor, and strong relationships are a staple of my books. And kissing. Lots of kissing.
I love to read for the escape it provides, and that’s what I strive to give each of my readers with the stories I tell. A chance to get away from the everyday routines and the stress of dirty dishes, Mount Laundry, and rising bills. An opportunity to smile, laugh, swoon, and cry while you try on someone else’s skin for a few hours.
What else should you know about me? Well, I’m an unashamed fangirl and love supporting my fellow authors. I’m a homeschool mom who spends her days giggling, hugging, and learning with her children. I watch way too much reality television and Netflix with my husband. And when it comes to my readers, I tend to slobber all over them.
Fact: Bookish people are the best people in the world.
With 57 days until the dance, Aly launches Operation Sex Appeal and sheds her tomboy image. The only thing left is for Justin actually to notice her. Enter best friend Brandon Taylor, the school’s second biggest hottie, and now Aly’s pretend boyfriend. With his help, elevating from “funny friend” to “tempting vixen” is only a matter of time.
But when everything goes according to plan, the inevitable “break up” leaves their friendship in shambles, and Aly and Brandon with feelings they can’t explain. And the fake couple discovers pretending can sometimes cost you the one thing you never expected to want.
Author Bio:
I write humorous love stories about sassy girls-next-door who occasionally stumble through life (and relationships), and the protective men who cherish them. Vibrant settings, humor, and strong relationships are a staple of my books. And kissing. Lots of kissing.
I love to read for the escape it provides, and that’s what I strive to give each of my readers with the stories I tell. A chance to get away from the everyday routines and the stress of dirty dishes, Mount Laundry, and rising bills. An opportunity to smile, laugh, swoon, and cry while you try on someone else’s skin for a few hours.
What else should you know about me? Well, I’m an unashamed fangirl and love supporting my fellow authors. I’m a homeschool mom who spends her days giggling, hugging, and learning with her children. I watch way too much reality television and Netflix with my husband. And when it comes to my readers, I tend to slobber all over them.
Fact: Bookish people are the best people in the world.
Overall, gargantuan, ginormous, awesome giveaway!
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I prefer romance to comedy and birthday tradition has to be cake and candles!
ReplyDeleteI like them both! But if I had to choose...oh, y'all, I hate choosing! I do like comedies, but I'm a romantic at heart. I don't have a birthday tradition!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely romance all the waaay!
ReplyDeleteA mixture of both, one element alone would make the book a bit boring
ReplyDeleteI love romance, but it's even more awesome when romance and comedy are combined! Also, my favorite birthday tradition is eating birthday cake and opening presents!
ReplyDelete