Superstitious Rituals

Hello once again, Readers!!! I finally saw The Great Gatsby last night and I loved it! I know that it has had a lot of mixed reviews…and I can understand why…but for my tastes and love of the novel, it was amazing!

But that’s not what I wanted to write about today. Prepare yourself for random information that really has nothing to do with anything and may even make your eyes cross! My eyes are crossing…a little.

Ready?

Today I wanted to write about superstitions. They are so silly aren’t they? To place the outcome of a situation on one little detail that is most likely irrelevant to the problem. But I have so many and I can’t stop believing in them! How do you stop and feel comfortable in letting go, because really, I think it comes down to just letting go. You can’t plan the future because no matter how much you prepare, things will happen as they happen. We really don’t have control in the grand scheme of things. Right?

I know…you are probably wondering where this is coming from.

Well, I finished the Born in Flames trilogy. The third book is in the hands of my publisher now waiting to be reviewed. That means I can move on to another project which I have been dying to do. All these ideas have been floating around in my head, plus I have my NaNo project (which is my current WIP) to finish.

As I started reading through what I’ve already written and decided to change a few things, I decided that I wanted to write in a different font from Courier New (which is what I wrote trilogy in). But I just can’t bring myself to change it. What if by changing the font, I change my ability to write. Or I jinx myself?

Wow. Did I really just admit that absurdity. Yep. I did. And I have a few others too.

Like parking in the same areas to ensure I have a good day, switching laptops to write on, or even blogging a certain way. I don’t do it all the time, but on occasion, I find myself creating rituals that I become dependent on and scared to break. The whole point of me telling you is to share the silliness. It made me laugh the second I realized what I was doing. I’m not going to let fear of the unknown stop me or cause me to create silly fixes that have absolutely no power in changing my future.

So I’m going to change the stupid font and park in a new section. Wish me luck…lol.

Now to leave you with a question: Do you have any superstitions or rituals?

Echelon out ♥

Casted by Sonya Loveday – Cover Reveal

Hello once again, Readers!!!

Okay, so obviously I am overjoyed about this post today. For those of you who don’t know me yet, Sonya is my very best friend in the whole wide world. We worked Purgatory together for about five years before we decided there was a different road we should be taking. And she is now embarking on her lifelong dream of becoming a published author!!! Eeeeee! I can’t tell you how many years we have waited for this moment. Okay, so maybe I can…five. Five long years she has waited to finally be ready. And now she is!!!

I can’t wait any longer!! Let’s skip the formalities! Ravven did it once again. Check out this amazing cover!!!

“My mind absorbed everything in the spell book I clutched tightly to me. Pages ruffled inside of my head, urging me to remember things and then to forget them. Voices chanted with tempo rising at the breaking points of pain until the book vanished and words to an ancient spell scribed across my arms. Each stroke brought blood to the surface, imprinting words I could not read; words that would forever change who I was.”

Jade had spent the majority of her life running from the Triad. The Triad, are a powerful group, who would stop at nothing to obtain Jade and the missing spell book for leader, Lorenzo’s, nefarious plans. And now that she has absorbed the highly coveted magic contained inside the missing book, there is nowhere left for her to hide.

With the help of her friends, Jade steps out from the shadows and learns how to fight back. But no one is prepared for Elinor-the woman bound inside of the book that’s trapped in Jade’s mind. Now she not only needs to protect herself from the Triad, but from what’s hiding inside her mind as well.

Jade never expected the answer to it all would revolve around love.

Edge is dark, mysterious, and a sworn member of the Triad. He also hides a secret past that threatens the thin line he walks between good and evil. Lives are at stake when Jade and Edge’s two worlds collide. Can Jade learn to trust him when he says he is her pre-ordained and vows to do everything he can to protect her? But more importantly, can she trust herself and the woman in her mind?

The expected publication date is set for June 7th, 2013! You can also add the novel to your TBR list on Goodreads! Now to meet the wonderful, best bestie in the world:

About the Author

Sonya Loveday, first and foremost is a reader, an avid one. It is of that love that brought her to the realization that this was the answer to the nagging persistent feeling that ‘there’s got to be something more’. The dream came alive in 2009 when she purchased her laptop and began the tedious step of becoming a published author. When she’s not reading, she’s writing. When she’s not writing, she’s reading. And when she’s not doing either of those things she’s sleeping, shuttling her children back and forth to school, letting the dogs and cats in and out of the house for the umpteenth time in the last hour and dreaming of a clean house.

You can find Sonya Loveday on:

Facebook

Twitter

Goodreads

WordPress

Be sure to follow this awesome up-and-coming author!!! Much love to the bestie and congratulations on your beautiful cover and for finally making your dreams come true!

Echelon out!

 

Born in Flames Travels

Hello once again, Readers!!! How goes it!? How has life been treating you? Good? Decent? Fantastic?

Awesome.

Unless of course, life has been mean to you. Then that is not awesome. But any who, my days have been pretty good. I took a pause in editing, From the Embers so I could help edit my bestie’s novel, Casted. It’s going to be good! I am so proud of her and all of her accomplishments. She has been through a lot and is finally on the road she has always dreamed of being on.

But on another note, I wanted to share something fun with you today. My street team has been taking flyers for Born in Flames and posting them up around their hometowns. It’s so freaking awesome to see the many places the cover has gone and it only pumps me up for when Born in Flames will finally be available in print! Hopefully by August!

So with that being said, here are some photos of the flyers:

A bookstore in England.

The front of a library.

A bus stop in England.

A newspaper stand.

A Nook book corner.

A frame shop front.

That’s only a handful of places that I have photos of. Awesome right?! I love my street team. They are wonderful, sweet ladies who make me laugh and support my novel. What’s even better is that we all support each other. ♥

Now to leave you with a question: What’s the weather like? It’s rainy here. My favorite kind of weather. Unless I had plans that involved outside…then not so much.

Echelon out ♥

Cassandra Giovanni’s Just One Cup Cover Reveal

Hello once again, Readers!!! Today I stray away from a normal post to bestow you with a lovely gift. Okay, so maybe this doesn’t come as a surprise considering the title pretty much gives it away, but hey, what can a girl do!? I’m trying to drum up some excitement here.

Hey you! Yeah, you! Get excited!!!

I digress.

So yes, onwards and upwards…or sidewards if you want to be silly.

Huh?

Today I have the lovely Cassandra Giovanni featured on my blog. As you may have guessed, today is the BIG reveal of her debut New Adult novel, Just One Cup. She has also written, In Between Seasons and Walking in the Shadows. So without further adieu, I give you the beautimous cover (designed by Cassandra) of Just One Cup:

RELEASE DATE: JUNE 20, 2013

Emma Walker was a writer who’d lost herself to someone else’s anger–who had given up on ever feeling like herself again. Evan Levesque was a rock-god–the one all the woman wanted, but he’d never gotten used to the loneliness between the stage and real life. With just one cup of coffee they’ll begin a journey of self-discovery at each others sides, but can Emma handle Evan’s fame while dealing with her own demons? Emma’s checkered personal past, a bad relationship that haunts the edges of her memories, threatens to make everything implode on them when Evan takes matters into his own hands. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but your words…they’ll destroy my soul–Can Emma handle being put back together and facing who she’s become because of it? GENRE: New Adult>Contemporary Romance

Time to meet the brains behind the words:

Cassandra doesn’t remember a time when she wasn’t writing. In fact, the first time she was published was when she was seven years old and won a contest to be published in an American Girl Doll novel. Since then Cassandra has written more novels than she can count and put just as many in the circular bin. Her personal goal with her writing is to show the reader the character’s stories through their dialogue and actions instead of just telling the reader what is happening. In 2012 she became a published Young Adult author, releasing In Between Seasons (The Fall, #1) and Walking in the Shadows. In 2013 she branched out by using her artistic illustrating talents to publish her first Children’s novel, The Adventures of Skippy Von Flippy: Tales of Friendship (Skippy Tales, #1). Cassandra will also release her first New Adult novel, Just One Cup, in the Spring of 2013.

Cassandra is a freelance professional photographer known for her automotive, nature and architectural shots. She is the owner of Gio Design Studios, a photography and publication marketing company that designs covers and marketing materials for authors utilizing the company’s photography. She is currently studying to receive her associates degree in Marketing. Cassandra is happily married to the man of her dreams and they live in the rolling hills of New England with the other loves of her life their dogs, Bubski and Kanga.

Now how about an excerpt from Just One Cup!?

When he came off the plane he was wearing aviators, a black button-up, dark wash jeans and those Converse shoes that I hated on anyone but him. He lifted his sunglasses and broke into a smile as I ran into his arms. He dropped his bag and spun me around as soon as I was in his arms.

“How did you know?” he asked as he set me on the ground, his hands tangled in my hair.

“You told me what flight you were on.”

He shook his head and held my chin in his hand. “I’ve always wanted to have someone to wait for me—to spin them around and then do this.”

He pulled my chin up and tilted it until our lips touched—soft at first and then the reminder that we hadn’t kissed in two months came over us. The only thing that could pull us apart was the whistle that echoed through the terminal and then the incessant flash of cameras.

“Crap,” Evan hissed, his forehead pressed to mine with his hands on either side of my face so they couldn’t get a good picture of me. “You don’t want them to know who you are yet, do you?”

I shook my head but said with my voice shaking, “I knew the risk.”

He swallowed and then smiled. “Tilt your head down so that your hair covers your face from

I did what he said and then felt his hands slip the glasses over my eyes. As I looked up his cocky half-smile made me laugh.

“They look a hell of a lot hotter on you,” he teased, throwing his duffel bag over his shoulder and wrapping his arm around my waist so that his fingers were in the front pocket of my jeans.

“I don’t think that’s possible,” I replied, breathless from the feel of his touch as my t-shirt rose, exposing the flesh of my hip to his warmth.

“It’s very possible with you,” he whispered into my ear as we made our way past the flashing cameras. “I can’t wait to see the tabloids on this one.”

“It would be much better if we did something dangerous, like locked ourselves in a public restroom.”

He looked down at me through his eyebrows. “Really? That’s not all that clean.”

“I haven’t seen you in two months,” I said, turning and stopping in front of him. “I’ve thought about you every single day. Do you know what that does to a girl? Especially when pictures of you half- naked are strewn across the internet.”

“I see you found those.” His voice was edged with amusement, but his face was red in embarrassment.

I pulled on the collar of his shirt before leaning up on my toes and whispering into his ear, “I need some real ones.”

“What do you need pictures of when I’m here?” he answered, his breath hot on my chin, voice seductive.

“I need you to burn the images into my mind then,” I said before gently biting his ear.

His free hand drifted down the small of my back to my rear pocket. “I thought I already had.”

“Mhmm…I need more.”

“I have to admit I kind of enjoy this.” He smirked down at me. “But teasing me like this is just

cruel.”

“Does the rental car have blacked out windows?” I asked over my shoulder as I turned.

I watched his Evan’s Adam’s apple rise and fall. “I sure hope so.”

<a href=”https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17457178-just-one-cup“><img alt=”Goodreads-badge-add-plus” src=”http://s.gr-assets.com/assets/badge/goodreads-badge-add-plus-d700d4d3e3c0b346066731ac07b7fe47.png” /></a>

Echelon out ♥

Crazy’s My Middle Name

Hello once again, Readers!!! I’m just going to jump right into things because this past week has been an emotional rollercoaster for me. It started off normal, and then all of sudden the rug was pulled out from under me. My husband’s brother was in a very bad car accident. And he lives over 1100 miles away from us.

o_O

It was one of the scariest phone calls I have ever received and it resulted in rushing to book two flights out for the next day for my husband and me, while trying to set everything up for my children to be taken care of by my bestie and mom.  Around midnight. Thankfully I have such a great support system. They helped me tremendously.

Long story short, my BIL is alive and healing up. I can’t tell you how good it is to day that because for a minute there, we weren’t sure. I won’t get into all the gory details, but I will say that he is extremely lucky to be alive. He must have an angel on his shoulder and I am so glad we were able to be there for him and to see his face alive and smiling.

Any who, now onto Born in Flames news. First off, the tour has kicked off with an awesome start. Great reviews, fun interviews, and music galore! I am very pleased and excited with how things are coming along. If you want to see for yourself, check out this post I did previously with all the dates and stops.

Also, when I finally made it home (after four crazy days of being in another state), I came back to two special packages. One being from an insanely sweet fan who created and mailed necklaces to me all the way from England!! And another was from Next Day Flyers who I ordered my second round of bookmarks from. Here are the necklaces:

Aren’t they just gaw-geous!!!?? So exciting!!! I can’t wait to find ways to give them away! It is the first thing a fan has ever made for me. Kind of tears me up a bit. I am extremely grateful to have the wonderful fans in my life who love and understand my story. I can’t wait to share book two with them!

Here are the bookmarks I ordered:

That’s 500 right there. I will be ordering the Embracing the Flames bookmarks next all in preparation for the Bookfest in August. And that’s about it for now. I’m still in the process of editing From the Embers. It’s crazy how my writing has changed and grown since Born in Flames. I’ve learned so much from the editors and just from writing and reading.

But I digress…

Now to leave you with a question: What would you do for a Klondike bar?

Echelon out ♥