Meridian review of Backlash

The first few weeks after a new book is released are both exciting and nerve racking. Will everyone like it? Will anyone like it? Will anyone even READ it? Thankfully, the answers are usually yes, except for the "will everyone like it" question. As any author can attest, no one book is going to please every reader. All we can hope is that those who don't appreciate our efforts will be professional and kind in their criticisms.

Yesterday, I received a couple of emails informing me that Jennie Hansen's review of Backlash appeared in Meridian Magazine. Jennie is one of those people that I have come to trust when considering what fiction I might invest both my time and my money. Having her write a positive review absolutely made my week. Here it is if you want to check it out.

Unveiling Smokescreen...

One of the highlights of my trip to Utah (although there were many!) was dropping in to see my editor and some of the other people who work at Covenant. While I was there, I got my first look at the cover for my next book. I'll admit that it's pretty strange to have one book that just came out in September and I'm already looking forward to the next one which will be released in January. Regardless, Smokescreen will head to the printer shortly and here is the sneak peek at the cover:

The Book Academy

Last Thursday I had the opportunity to present at The Book Academy, a one day writers conference held at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. First of all, it was fabulous. The organizers did a great job in every aspect. All of the classes I attended were wonderful and the food was great. A publishers panel was held during lunch which included a question and answer segment so that aspiring authors could gain a better understanding of how the acceptance and publication process works.

The conference started off with the keynote speaker, Brandon Mull, and then everyone broke off into classes. I taught during the first hour and was stunned that my class had standing room only. In fact, the organizers had to bring in extra chairs to make sure we weren't breaking fire codes. Like I said, I was stunned!

Then, as if having 90 people show up at my class wasn't surprising enough, I actually saw people taking NOTES! Now, I will admit that I did spend quite a bit of time preparing for my class, even enlisting a lot of opinions from some friends and family who are English teachers. My cousin Jana and I stayed up late the night before tweaking it because, well, that's what we do.

I was so honored to be invited to present, and I wanted to make sure that no one was disappointed. I did have a few people come up to me afterward and say they enjoyed the class, so hopefully they represent the majority rather than the minority. All I know, is that I was extremely lucky to have so many interesting, engaging people choose to attend and I was impressed with every other presenter I had the opportunity to see.

That author

Today I decided I really needed to focus on proofing my next novel since it's due by next week. The problem is that if I read more than about twenty pages at a time, I get too caught up in my storyline to notice any potential typos. (I know, it's weird that I can lose myself in my own books. I guess I'm easily entertained.) Anyway, I decided to take a break and visited the Frog Blog to read Kerry Blair's newest post.

As always, I only made it a few lines before Kerry had me chuckling to myself. In it, Kerry discussed the oddity of being an author. It is a strange profession, one that everyone is convinced they can do if only they had the time...and the big break...and maybe a story idea. It is also a profession of extremes.

When I am writing a new novel, I sometimes hide in my office for several weeks straight, only coming back to reality for brief periods of time when my stomach is so loud I can't hear myself think or when I realize that the blood curling scream echoing through the house wasn't made by a fictional character. Other times, like next week, I get to travel across the country, do some signings and school visits, and hopefully meet people who have at least heard of my books.

Of course, transitioning between the two extremes of this business can be a bit tricky. Some authors need to get out and meet their fans. Others would love nothing more than to avoid any and all book signings, prefering to stay at their keyboards and hope fan mail will find its way into their inboxes.

Personally, I like both sides of the business. In moderation. I love meeting my fans, coming face to face with people who enjoy the same books I do. I also love getting lost in a story I'm creating, experiencing that incredible rush when my fingers can't keep up with my characters.

Transitioning between the two is the hard part. I'm always afraid to get too deep into a new novel until I'm sure I really have at least six to eight weeks I can commit to it. If I have other obligations hanging over my head, I simply can't stay focused. So, for the next week I'm going to proofread Smokescreen one last time and enjoy my travels. When I get home, I'm determined to convince Charlie Whitmore that it's time for his story to be told.

Organized chaos

Today I am looking around my house, at my cluttered desk and the toys on the floor. The dirty dishes on the counter and the two bags of groceries on the table I have yet to put away after last night's trip to the store. And I'm starting to wonder, do I have to get organized before I can organize my thoughts?

I admit, the last couple of weeks have been a bit overwhelming. School started right after Labor Day and I was really excited about getting a lot of things done. Unfortunately, I didn't really consider exactly HOW MUCH I needed to get done. So I've decided it's time for me to get serious and set some priorities.

I was trying to put my work-in-progress as my first priority (after my family and church, of course), but now I'm realizing that I'm having trouble focusing on it because there are too many other things pulling at me. I took care of a few things this week, but these are the big ones I still have to take care of before I can get back to my book.

1. Clean my house, preferably with the help of the three children I still have living at home. I'm not talking about a serious spring cleaning, but at least enough tidying so that the kitchen looks the way I want it to and the floors are no longer an obstacle course.

2. Prepare for my upcoming class at The Book Academy in Utah on September 30th as well as my planned visits to two high schools, Summit Academy High School in Draper, Utah and Mingus Union High School in Cottonwood, Arizona. I have a lot of ideas of what I want to do, but I need to get them down on paper (or in computer) so that I can feel more organized.

3. Organize a few more details for my upcoming high school reunion. (I'm still not sure exactly how I ended up in charge of it.)

4. Take care of some administrative issues for my high school swim team before our first team/parent meet.

5. WRITE! Or rather, rewrite. Either way, Charlie Whitmore is demanding that his story get finished and I'm ready to find out what really happens.

Race for Backlash

As my family can attest, I am always very excited to get the box from my publisher that contains my new books. Now that I've been through the waiting game a few times, I know that I probably shouldn't expect to see the FedEx truck heading for my house until after I've received at least a couple of online reviews or emails from people who have already read it. This time was a bit different.

The first indication that my book was out this time was a text message from an old college roommate (so thank you Lori!) I was starting to wonder if Backlash was really on the shelves or if it was perhaps I was off by a few days on the release date. Then Jon commented on my last post (thank you Jon!) and I started feeling a little more confident that my newest release really had been released.

This weekend started a chain of events that was definitely new to me. On Friday my college age daughter went to the bookstore at BYU-Idaho and sent me a picture message of my book there. Then, with her wicked sense of humor, the same darling daughter bought Backlash and successfully gained possession of it before me...by one day. The stars aligned here in Virginia on Saturday and when I returned from driving one of my other daughters to her ACT exam, my box of books was waiting for me. :)

Five days and counting...

It's amazing that when I look at how fast my kids are growing up, time seems to be flying by. Yet when I have a new book about to come out, the days start slowing down.

I am looking forward to September, yet I'm also dreading it's arrival. My book comes out in five days (I think), but within days of its release, my oldest daughter heads across the country to go back to school. Two days after she leaves, the rest of my kids start their school year. And I'm not ready yet!

Okay, I'll admit that I'm ready to get back onto a routine and I am looking forward to having some quiet in the house, especially since I'm anxious to get Obsession rewritten. On the other hand, I have really enjoyed having all of my kids home and I would love to have more time to spend with them (preferably at the beach NOT getting sunburned.)

I also know that starting tomorrow my life starts getting pretty crazy. I have a local author book signing at Porter Library (in Stafford, Virginia) and then I'll have a series of signings throughout September and October, including heading out to both Utah and Arizona this fall. I love doing book signings and getting the chance to meet new people, but I have a feeling that by the time I start swim season in November, I'm going to miss the lazy days of summer.