IWSG~Stepping Out of Your Genre & A Gorgeous #CoverReveal!

Hi Everyone! *Quick Splat Note: I suck. Haven't been blogging due to all sorts of legit bookish reasons, life with four kids & ailing parents. I still LUV you!  *****

"It's September," I whisper, for fear if I spoken loudly another page will turn and December will arrive. And I'm not ready for the holidays to be here. Let's agree to concentrate on today being the 1st Wednesday of said month, where I come to answer the question posed by the Insecure Writer's Support Group. 

"Have you ever surprised yourself with your writing?"

Talk about a loaded question...

Sure have. And it's one of my favorite parts of writing fiction. I'll use my MG novel Motley Education as an example. Originally, my main character Ebony Charmed was a teenager, not a tween. But the more I wrote her story, the younger she sounded. It was at that point I realized she didn't want to be an emotionally wounded teen medium with trust issues or to lust after her best guy friend only to realize they were better off as just friends. Nope, she wanted to be a spunky, boneyard-loving, misfit medium dressed in miniskirts with skulls on her tights and pink/blue strips in her hair, whose rocky relationship with her mom contributes to her insecurities at school and with the local bully-boy, except for her GTG (go-to-guy) Fleishman - the best real friend any girl could hope for. <3

Yeah, I totally heart them, too.

And guess what? Their little story won yet another award! 

I've been invited to Miami, FL, in November to attend the awards ceremony and accept the award. Unlike with the Literary Classic award ceremony that I couldn't attend because it was in South Dakota this past weekend (airfare from Maine to SD was ridiculously expensive), I'll be able to make it to Florida for the ceremony! I'm thrilled.

I want to thank our amazing September co-host team of Tyrean Martinson, Tara Tyler, Raimey Gallant, & Beverly Stowe McClure! Want to be part of the IWSG? Click the image.

Reminder Splat: My YA publisher is offering a preorder sales price of $3.99 for Marked Beauty from now until release day - October 17, 2017. In conjunction, anyone who preorders their copy will receive a fabulous preorder package of bookish goodies! Just sign up via this link: http://bit.ly/2texe67. Preorder links: AMAZON & BARNES AND NOBLE.

Are you ready for an amazingly gorgeous cover reveal??? Oh, and it's not mine. LOL Here goes:

PHOENIX DESCENDING

Book I of The Curse of the Phoenix Duology

by Dorothy Deyer

Publisher: Snow Wings Publishing

Release Date: November 28, 2017

Genre: NA (New Adult)

Cover Design: Deranged Doctor Design

Description: Since the outbreak of the phoenix fever in Drothidia, Tori Kagari has already lost one family member to the fatal disease. Now, with the fever threatening to wipe out her entire family, she must go against everything she believes in order to save them—even if that means making a deal with the enemy.

When Tori agrees to join forces with the unscrupulous Khadulians, she must take on a false identity in order to infiltrate the queendom of Avarell and fulfill her part of the bargain, all while under the watchful eye of the unforgiving Queen’s Guard. But time is running out, and every lie, theft, and abduction she is forced to carry out may not be enough to free her family from death. Add Phoenix Descending on Goodreads!

Congratulations to Dorothy! I'm excited for this one.

So, IWSG peeps: have you ever had a character you're writing yell at you that you're doing it wrong? ;)