Monthly Highlights - July

Over here on the side bar I finally figured out how to add social media buttons! You may go stalk and follow all of them. :p > > > > > 

If you are reading this as an email, you'll need to visit the actual website to see them. 

Note: Editing has taken over my life this month (*cough* you'll notice  from my lack of posts) but I am NOT dead and merely imprisoned by my own book. 

It happens. 

Posts shall resume in August.

I FINISHED MY BOOK.

The first draft, at least. It came to 93,000 words, and there's sooo much to edit. It's daunting and exciting at the same time. :p

- - -

And.... *drumroll* I got a Facebook page!
(We won't talk about how long I tried to get a like button in the actual post. Apparently I'm not technologically savvy enough to do that.)

It only takes a couple seconds to go and like it, so it would make me unbelievably happy if you went and liked it.

LIKE IT HERE! :)

- - -
I got my permit! 

It's kind of frightening, actually. I'm not bad at driving, but continually have to remind myself not to tense up to the point where my knuckles turn white when I'm on the roads. :p

Cabin time! 
Every summer my whole dad's side of the family gets together at a small resort and spend a whole week together. Lots of weirdness, swimming, reading, and campfire treats ensue.

...Cousin love.

Here's the weirdness. We all got matching sweatshirts and they were pretty awesome. xD
I'm on the left.

Mmm. Chocolate eclairs. A croissant roll with pudding inside and chocolate on the top.
*dies*

- - -

I wrote two posts, which seems extremely pitiful, but it's better than none, right?

//pictures lead to the post//

I interviewed Jaye L. Knight for the Half-Blood blog tour!

I also told you why I think it's okay to sometimes take a break.

Cait at Paper Fury posted about unfollowing blogs.

*NEW BLOG ALERT* A bunch of blogger buddies that I know joined together to make a group writing blog: Young Writer's Treehouse.

This post wasn't from this month, but I found a video where an agent was interviewed on her advice for new authors.

Nadine Brandes listed 13 pieces of advice for your first writer's conference.

Heather guest posted on Aimee's blog and stated why she thinks parents aren't dominant in YA novels.

I read 11 books this month. Considering that I was also doing Camp NaNoWriMo, this number is far more than I expected it to be. AND, most of the books were awesome. So that's even better.

          

Favorite Book: Firefight by Brandon Sanderson. [5/5] Sheer hilariousness and geniusness. (I made up both of those words in case you were wondering.

Least Favorite: Steampunk! by an assortment of authors. [1/5] I'm giving one star to the stories I actually read. The rest... eh. I just wasn't interested in any of them. 

Favorite Cover: Silver in the Blood by Jessica Day George. [/5] While the book wasn't actually that fantastic, good gracious, the cover is gorgeous. I love everything about it.

Releases this Month: 

//covers lead to author's release post//

- Katie Grace

Have you read any of these new releases? Do you have a Facebook page? What's your favorite cover out of the books I read this month? (Or you could share your favorite cover of all time if you can choose. ;)

//share this !//

Half-Blood Blog Tour: Interview and GIVEAWAY.

If you follow this blog... (which you probably are, seeing that you are reading this. If you aren't, join in the fun! Books and writing people, you'll expect lots of that from this blog.) 

... Anyways. I got distracted. (Expect randomness, too, in the best of ways, I promise.) 

Okay. *cough* If you follow this blog, you probably have heard me rave about the Ilyon Chronicles, a fantasy series that involves lots and lots of epicness. 

A mere two days ago, Jaye released a prequel novella on Jace's backstory (the poor, tortured gladiator). I've read it, and let me tell you, it's intense. It's heartbreaking, sad, and at times you don't see how there could be any hope in Jace's life. 

But in the end, Jaye does a wonderful job of letting hope reign in his life, and set it up perfectly for Resistance. I do recommend reading Half-Blood after Resistance, however.

Read on for an interview and an EPIC giveaway.

- - -

What does a typical writing day look like? Do you have a schedule?

I confess, I’m bad with schedules. I don’t have a set schedule for writing. I do like to write in the morning, though, and try to get to it shortly after breakfast. It always depends on what else I have on my to-do list. Writing is only a fraction of what I need to do. I’m almost always in the middle of editing, and I also have my jewelry shop to keep running, which takes much more time than I ever expected. So my days are pretty full.

If you could transport yourself to ANY fictional world, where would you go? Anything specific you'd like to do in that world?

 

Can I pick Ilyon? :D Because I’d love to visit and crete city and go dragon riding with Talas. I’d also love to go horseback riding through Landale with Jace and Kyrin. If not Ilyon, then I’d probably pick . . . Middle-earth if I got to hang out with Aragorn in Rivendell. :)

Favorite food?

Cheese. :)

Favorite Movie?

Lord of the Rings!

Favorite Song?

Oh . . . that’s super tough. How about favorite song from each of my favorite artists (though that’s just as tough)? :D

Rebirthing by Skillet

Majesty by Building 429

I am Willing by Jeremy Camp

What Faith Can Do by Kutless

To God Alone by Aaron Shust

Own my Own by Ashes Remain

Worn by Tenth Avenue North

- - -

Jaye L. Knight is an award-winning author, homeschool graduate, and shameless tea addict with a passion for Christian fantasy. Armed with an active imagination and love for adventure, Jaye weaves stories of truth, faith, and courage with the message that even in the deepest darkness, God’s love shines as a light to offer hope. She has been penning stories since the age of eight and resides in the Northwoods of Wisconsin.

 You can connect with Jaye on her website, blog, Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Etsy, and on her new fiction forum where you can interact with other readers of the series.

- - -

Share in the excitement of the release and enter to win a themed giveaway pack! Prizes include. . .

•  An autographed copy of Half-Blood.
•  A blue feather bookmark hand crafted by Jaye.
•  A bronze sword pendant.
•  A $5 Amazon gift card!  

(Giveaway is open to US residents only. Cannot be shipped internationally.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

- - -

The gasps and murmuring grew. Though some were hardly more than whispers, clear words reached Jace’s ears—dangerous, monster, animal, soulless. He tried to back away from their accusing eyes, but the collar pulled hard against his throat and held him in place.

For all his years as a slave, Jace has known nothing but the hatred people hold for his mixed blood—one half human, the other half the blood of a race considered monsters. Always, he is the outsider and quickly learns it is better to keep to himself. But, when his volatile ryrik blood leads him to do the unthinkable, he is thrown into a world of violence and bloodshed.

Forced to become a gladiator, Jace finds more and more of his heart dying as his master works to break down his will not to become the monster everyone believes he is. When a stranger interferes with his master’s harsh punishment, Jace’s world is upended yet again. But with it comes the possibility of hope that has long since died. Could the man possibly hold the key to escaping the hopeless darkness that is Jace’s life? Is there such a thing as life beyond the cruelty of slavery?

See where Jace’s story all began . . .

- - -

Available on Amazon!

Buy Now

Add to Goodreads

Discover Ilyon in Resistance and The King’s Scrolls.

Find more posts for the blog tour HERE. 

- - -

- Katie Grace

Please tell me you're excited for this book as I am. I'm flipping out with excitement. :D 

Two questions: 

- Favorite food?

- Favorite movie?

( Share this! )
 

It's Okay to Take a Break

image from pinterest

A lot of my readers are taking part in this thing called Camp NaNoWriMo.

It's all about speed writing and typing thousands of words in a day because we simply have to make that deadline. 

That ever-looming goal is stress inducing. It causes us to stay up late and rise early just to thump our heads on the keyboard in hope that something readable comes about.

The fun of Camp can last the whole month, but often, for me, the fun takes place on the first day, when I meet my goal, and when my cabin meets our goal. Note that those are only three days of the thirty (and sometimes it's only one day if I/my cabin doesn't meet the goal).

So the rest of the month, roughly twenty-seven days are COMPLETELY HECTIC. Don't ask me why I keep signing up.

Sure, Camp NaNoWriMo has many, many benefits. It motivates you to write those words, connect with other insane writers, and teaches you how to work on a deadline.

But it's okay to take a break.

These last two days, when I should've been writing, I read three books. Yes, three books in two days. I felt guilty. I felt like I was slacking on my word count. But my time wasn't wasted.

The break from writing gave me what I needed to start creating an epic ending for my novel: A fresh mind, new vocabulary from the books I read, and time to dwell on my story so I was actually excited when I started writing again.

When I returned to my story, that's when I realized that it was completely okay to sometimes take a break. It's often for the better.

If you're feeling overwhelmed, as odd as it may sound, try taking a break, even if it's just for the day. Read a book, take a walk, brainstorm, and *cough* write a blog post. It may be what your mind needs to enter itself back into the story.

Now, excuse me while I speed-write hundreds of words to make up for my word count and my cabin's.

- - -

If you're falling behind on your word count or even if you're super ahead and want some extra motivation, Go Teen Writers is having a six day long Word War on their blog! It'd be awesome to war with you. :)

- - -

- Katie Grace

Have you taken a break this month? Do you agree on what I said? Disagree? 
For a fun question: what was the last book you read?


Share this post! 

Cover Reveal - Implant

Happy Thursday and second day of Camp! I hope you all are doing fantastical on your goals. If not, you still have most of the month left! I'm cheering you on. :D

Today I have a cover reveal for one of my favorite authors, J. Grace Pennington. She writes epic Christian fiction from westerns to sci-fi. I wrote a review for the first book in her Firmament Series, Radialloy, here.

We'll get right to it -- here's the cover!

Welcome to the world of a universal cure.

Gordon Hardling didn't ask for the life he has. He didn't ask to be orphaned. He didn't ask to go through life with cancer. And he certainly didn't ask to be pulled into a future world without warning--a world where every human being is controlled by means of a medical implant.

And when he learns that he's the only one who can destroy the base of operations, he's faced with an impossibly painful choice: either hide and let the world decay under this mysterious futuristic force, or rescue humanity from oppression, knowing that there's someone out there who is willing to use any means necessary to stop him. 

- - -

Grace has posted a couple short snippets from Implant on her blog, so I thought I'd share them to keep things interesting. :)

- - -

“You were on the Head’s side. What made you change your mind?”Doc’s lips turned up ever so slightly. “You should be able to guess. I forgot what it was to have principles or convictions until that idealistic dreamer came along. After I was sent to the base as a spy, he reminded me–in no uncertain terms, either. You’ve seen how pushy he is.”Gordon couldn’t help a smile.

- - - 

Gordon pedaled as fast as he could, intensely focused on taking deep breaths. Each inhalation set off a dull pain deep in his chest, but he persisted, stubbornly ignoring his rapidly increasing heart rate. Baum would fuss that he was exerting himself too much, but Gordon didn’t care. He had to get into shape somehow, and riding his bike to work was the best way he could think to do it . . . 

- - - 

"There are only ten safe tunnels," Doc puffed, walking with his big fists clenched. "Don't know if everyone will fit or not, but we'll have to do the best we can. There's--you've got to--what the..."  

Unable to account for Doc's sudden spluttering loss for words, Gordon looked straight ahead. A chill swept through him, settling in his stomach, making his spine turn to ice. A scream rose in his throat but didn't escape; he stopped, stumbled, forced himself to remain upright. No. No, no, no, no!

 - - -

Check out the cover designer's website here!

Make sure to visit all of Grace's social media websites and stir up some excitement for the cover reveal. :)

|| Blog || Website || Twitter || Facebook ||

- Katie Grace

Have you read any of Grace's books? What's your favorite dystopian read? And how are you surviving Camp? Regretting it yet? xD