More love for The New Pioneers!

Today is the second-to-last day of The Smartest Girl in the Room blog tour those guys at Juniper Grove so nicely organized for me, and I couldn't be happier. And by "happy" I mean vegan vanilla ice cream-hot fudge-raspberry sauce sundae happy.

Since we last spoke, I've been reviewed by BookwormBridgette's World and Nikki Mahood. Please go read and you'll see why I'm pleased as punch.

Some of the other stuff happiness is made of

On top of that, Kay's Novel Nook read and reviewed The Family You Choose. You know why I'm doing cartwheels over this one? If you've read it, you know that I took some risks with it (and as we've seen this week, literary risks can be dangerous). This story means a lot to me- it's older than two of my sisters, and it's been with me for more than half my life- so I am doubly appreciative that someone "got" it. (Here's hoping others will too!)

Below is the Rafflecopter Juniper Grove is running for me again, and again I am NOT running this so I can do anything other than tell you about the next releases. Writers who have time to stalk people...among other things, they're not people I want to hang out with, and certainly not people I want to emulate.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

"Sassy Chick Lit"? I'll take it!

The blog tour for The Smartest Girl in the Room continues with a review on Kay's Novel Nook, who just so happens to be a fellow Bostonian. (I will take that too.)

Please go read it; I can't talk because I'm too overcome, and in the good way. I like this review so much, I even like her criticisms. (Another confession: most writers are that way.)

Excuse me while I beam for the rest of the day.

I'm interviewed on Keira's Corner today

...and I actually share some things I haven't shared ad infinitum!

Want to find out why I picked the title The Smartest Girl in the Room? What else I'm working on? Or what time of day I like to write? Then read on.

Oh, did I mention there's a giveaway? Because there is (click the above link!).

Thanks again to Juniper Grove!

The blog tour for The Smartest Girl in the Room continues (Jess's Book Blog)

And this time I got a little help from the lovely people at Juniper Grove Solutions, who came highly recommended to me by my good friend Lisette Brodey.

My first stop was on their blog yesterday, but today I'm featured on Jess's Book Blog, and I get Four Daisies. Woo hoo!

(Readers, I'll let you in on a little secret; tell most writers you don't hate them, and we might want to go home with you. But you shh...you didn't hear that from me.)

Running around the internet today

Here's the things about writing a series: you have to keep talking about all of the books. I am fine with that- and very grateful to the bloggers who allowed me to do just that.

First up, Jaidis Shaw hosted me on her blog today talking a little bit about myself (what, you mean you've already memorized everything about me? Guys, I'm fascinating, trust me!) and sharing a brief excerpt of The Smartest Girl in the Room.

Second, my buddy Monique McDonell allowed Emily and Zainab to give a little teaser about what's going in The Family You Choose. (But you didn't need to be told that whatever it is, Emily is going to go ballistic, did you?)

Stay tuned for more this week!

Check out the latest review I got :-D

I am sooo excited about the latest review I got from Caroline Fardig. The fact that she likes the bad guys makes me even happier than that she likes the love interest.

Writer/reviewer/blogger Caroline Fardig

Please read and then excuse me as I get back to edits and blogging...

My latest guest posts

A couple of weeks ago I was featured on Monique McDonell's blog talking about what I've learned as I've written. You know how I feel about getting too "writer-ly", but I do share my thoughts there about publishing venues and distribution.

Today I'm featured on Crimson Flower Reviews. I wrote this a few months ago, and I confess I cringed a little bit to see that I described my characters as "strong". They are, but they're also very human (and if you read the first one you already know that). My point was that my characters fit in pretty nicely with many other writers I've read- multi-dimensional human beings. 

Enough of that- please go read :-)

Alpha Males Need Not Apply

When Emily encounters alpha males in The Smartest Girl in the Room, she does a little more than roll her eyes. Having been the uncool kid for most of her life, she's very aware that popular, powerful people can also be bullies; the difference between them and the rest of the world is that they're much less likely to be criticized. Mitch may have a lot of flaws, but one of them isn't wanting to bend Emily to his will.

Emily's good friend Miranda isn't afraid of alphas because she's lived with one all her life. And while she's smitten when The Family You Choose opens, once she discovers the truth about him, let's just say the very sweet character Emily and Mitch first encountered will show how far she's willing to go when pushed. But how far will the man in question go to get her back?

To read more about my feelings on alpha males, please check out the latest stop in the Careful You Don't Outsmart Yourself tour, this time on my friend Michelle Cameron's blog.

Yes, you're a very pretty thing- but we've all seen how you treat people.

Perfection is boring

The "Careful You Don't Outsmart Yourself" blog tour continues on the Free Book Dude. I write today about the importance of writing flaws into your main character. I use The Fountainhead as my example; it works as philosophy (even if I don't agree with it), but it doesn't work as literature. If the main character is already perfect on page one, why do I want to keep reading?

Please read the post here.

"I've got this all figured out. I'll just wait through the rest of the book for the rest of you to figure it out."

Why do we write what we write?

A few nights ago, as part of my Orson Welles binge, my husband and I watched his version of Jane Eyre. He went into it rolling his eyes at why anyone would find Rochester attractive; I went into trying to explain why Jane would be attracted to someone like him. By the time the movie was over, our positions were reversed: he was so impressed with Welles' performance that he could sympathize with both of them for the first time; I was so horrified by some of the highlighted dialogue that when Jane left Thornfield I couldn't get the door closed fast enough. 

Rochester just might be the prototype for the manipulative alpha-male many modern readers groan about in romance novels.

I had another disturbing thought as I watched Welles (who was magnificent in the role) teasing, belittling and wooing Joan Fontaine's Jane Eyre: he's a lot like a character I had originally written as the romantic lead in The Family You Choose. I shuddered a little bit before I reminded myself that at this point he is most definitely not, but still.

On that note... Loren Kleinman was kind enough to host me on her blog today to talk about some less disturbing influences. I promise- no more alpha males :-)

"Don't look sad yet, Jane; I haven't asked you to compromise your principles for our love yet"

Regrets... I've had a few

Today I'm featured on C. J. Brightley's blog, talking about the importance of If Only (or What If) and regret in our work. Whether it's a mad scientist trying literally trying to go back in time, someone going through a midlife crisis trying to recapture his or her youth or someone simply reflecting on how different everything could have been "if only...", those glimpses into an alternate version of the past can be powerful tools to help us make peace with our present- and move us into a better future.

Find the full post here.

Frank Sinatra, My Way (Live at the Royal... by waytoblue

If you're going to get wet, you might as well go swimming

The stereotype about authors, regardless of genre, is that we're all introverts who would rather live in our heads. While that's not entirely true in my case- other people can sometimes give you the best story ideas (however unintentionally)- I do like to maintain a bit of privacy, and I certainly don't need everyone on the internet to know about all of the times I've failed.

However, when Louise Wise invited writers to post their confessions, I couldn't resist. Turns out there's plenty that makes me cringe that only applies to my writing. I'd feel really vulnerable about that except that, well, it looks like I'm not alone.

Want to find out the damaging truth? Please click here.

No, really- write what you know

I'm pleased to be featured today on Draven Ames' blog talking about how I made the advice "Write What You Know" work for me. Shorter: what you know isn't confined to what you've experienced- and your imagination won't be constrained by familiarity.

If you notice some similarities between this and my last guest post, you're right. This really was something I personally struggled with for a long time. If you've read The Smartest Girl in the Room yet, just imagine Miranda Harel in Victorian England, or Jessie Bartolome in the Deep South. Yeah... not so much!

Now wait until I tell you which character I originally wanted to narrate the story, speaking of writing what you don't know. But that's another story for another day...

Chick Lit And Romance- it isn't either or

My latest stop on my "Careful You Don't Outsmart Yourself" blog tour is on Every Free Chance. Here I discuss why The Smartest Girl in the Room is both Chick Lit and Romance.

There's a certain group of people that sees both Romance and Chick Lit under the umbrella of Women's Fiction and won't understand why someone would make a distinction in the first place. At the other end of the spectrum are purists who will insist that any given story can be either one or the other. What I'm hoping is that most readers will fall into the category I do: genre is irrelevant as long as it's a good story.

After I decided to self-publish, I spent a long time trying to decide which genre my stories fell into. When I first started writing The Smartest Girl in the Room, I set out to write a romance. Everything in my novel is pinned onto the basic structure of one: Emily meets Mitch, Emily and Mitch come together, apart, then together again, then Emily and Mitch get their Happily Ever After (HEA). So Romance, right?

Yes, but there is a lot that happens otherwise, and that action focuses on Emily’s journey into adulthood. Not incidentally, her friends are a huge part of her story. And if she’s going to get into any trouble... let’s just say that while even arguing with her romantic rival would be beneath her, she doesn’t think twice about taking on someone who hurt one of her friends, no matter how risky. That, to me, says Chick Lit.

Please read the rest here.

Chat with Lisette Brodey

On Friday I decided on a name for my blog tour: Careful You Don't Outsmart Yourself. Given all of the anxiety some writers go through trying to promote their books, I think it's fitting both for my main character Emily and me ;-)

Lisette Brodey offered to host me for a chat a few weeks ago. Anyone who has ever spoken to me in person should not be surprised that the "chat" ended up going long. How I edit (don't worry, that's the shortest part), why this is a quintessentially American story (and series), the importance of reviews, where I think publishing is going and, just to keep it interesting, my feelings about the current state of soap operas. It's all there.

Please stop by, give a read and let us know what you think.