Friday Featurette-Meet Brody

             
                                                                   

    One of  my most popular posts is my YA Boyfriend List. I decided to spin off of  the YA boyfriend list in that post and introduce Brody from Beyond Vica. 

Read on to meet Brody...

 

         I  feel  someone  touch  my  arm.  My  eyes  fly  open.  It’s  Brody.   His  eyebrows  are  drawn  together  as  he  studies  my  face.  “Are  you   okay?”  His  voice  is  soft.  

        My  heart  hammers  in  my  chest.  I  swallow  hard  and  nod.  

      “What  happened?  I  saw  you  leave  the  gym.  You  looked   upset.  You  know  I  was  just  teasing  you  about  Sam.”  He  searches   my  face.  

       “It’s  not  that.”  I  shake  my  head.  The  thing  is,  I  never  talk   about  the  car  crash.  I’ve  never  told  anyone  about  it,  not  even  my   mom.  She  cried  so  much  the  year  my  dad  died  that  I  didn’t  want  to   hurt  her  any  more.  I  can’t  talk  to  Sam  about  it.  He  doesn’t  need  to   deal  with  the  memories  that  haunt  me.  I  have  held  them  inside  so   long.  It’s  like  they  don’t  want  to  be  ignored  anymore.  

      “Gabs?”  Brody  runs  his  hand  along  my  arm.  “What  is  it?”
      I  let  it  pour  out,  helpless  to  stop  it  any  longer.  “My  dad  used   to  sing  that  song  to  me.  He  said  that  it  was  our  song.”  

     “Oh.”  Brody  continues  to  rub  my  arm  not  taking  his  eyes   from  mine.  “I’m  sorry.”   I  shake  my  head.  

     “That’s  not  all.  After  the  crash,  I  crawled   into  the  front  seat  and  sang  him  that  song.  I  didn’t  understand  why  he  wouldn’t  talk  to  me  when  his  eyes  were  open.  I  thought  that  if  I   sang  our  song,  he  would  sing  with  me.”  I  wrap  my  arms  around   my  middle  and  squeeze.  I  feel  like  if  I  don’t  hold  myself  together,  I   will  crumble  into  a  million  pieces.  

  “Aww,  man.  That  sucks.”  He  puts  his  arms  around  me  and   pulls  me  into  his  chest.  I  rest  the  side  of  my  face  on  his  chest,  and  l   slip  my  hands  around  his  waist.  “I  had  no  idea  that  happened,”  he   whispers  and  strokes  my  hair.  

     We  don’t  move  or  say  anything  else  for  the  next  couple  of   minutes.  It’s  just  what  I  need.  I  concentrate  on  the  rise  and  fall  of   his  chest  under  my  face.  The  rhythm  of  his  heart  beneath  my  ear   soothes  me,  pulling  me  back  together.  Then  I  remember  where  I  am   and  why  I’m  here.  Sam!  I  pull  back  and  look  into  his  face.  “I  better   get  back  before  Sam  gets  worried.”

*Add Beyond Vica to your want to read list on Goodreads

Memoir Monday

My passion for books and writing led me to write for people involved in something else dear to my heart..teaching. Writing for children and young adults is my drive. I love their world.  It's energizing. I never dreamt that I would consider writing what I am now... my memoir.

A ran across an online course about writing memoirs and dismissed it immediately. However, the course pulled at the back of my mind until I could no longer ignore it. I signed up. Now that I'm on lesson four, I've decided to step out again and share it with my readers.

Everyone has a story to tell. Mine, like many others, involves more than one tragedy that has shaped who I am. Through each tragic event I've learned to step out and have faith in what will be. In fact, I hung onto that faith like a lifeline. The only thing that kept me afloat or I would've succumbed and drowned.

To not tell my story would be a disservice to my loved ones who suffered and the affect their lives had on mine.  After all, I am who I am today because of them.

I invite my readers to join me on my journey into unchartered territory...telling my own story. Memoir Monday will hold me accountable to this journey as I plan to post part of my memoir the first Monday of the month.

I hope to see you next week.

On the Move BlogTour

Blog Tour On the Move (On the Move #1) by K.V. Flynn

 

This is my stop during the blog tour for On the Move by K.V. Flynn. This blog tour is organized by Lola's Blog Tours. The blog tour runs from October 1 till 14, you can view the complete tour schedule on the website of Lola’s Blog Tours: http://lolasblogtours.net/blog-tour-on-the-move-by-k-v-flynn/

 

On the Move (On the Move #1)

By K.V. Flynn

Genre: Boys' action-adventure/ dystopia

Age category: Older Middle Grade/ young Young Adult

Release Date: September 2, 2014

My Interview with the Author:

What inspired you to become a writer?

I love the physical process of handwriting or typing the voices that chatter in my head and comment on the world. To me it’s like listening to music and singing along. Also, of course, I really love to read, so it’s amazing to be able to express myself, for myself and others, in a book or story.

 

What book have you written that you would like to tell us about?

Well… it’s my new YA/MG novel, On the Move. It’s about Callum Vicente and his four best middle school buddies who live in a Southern California beach town, and who narrowly miss being grounded for life after they sneak out of town on the bus for a great skateboard day just before promotion from 8^th grade. Their pal Justice ends up with a wicked broken leg, but their parents soon forget about it because weird, tense things are happening in the news. So Callum, Levi and his bff Apollo are soon deep into their best summer ever at PEAK skateboard camp where they learn tricks from the pros, grind on endless street courses, and careen off one awesome ramp straight into the lake. It is mad fun until the War breaks out: the teens watch major cities blown up on TV, have no idea what’s happened to their parents, and then lose virtually all communication with the outside world.

Stranded, the boarder buddies strike out on their own to find their families, travelling north through all of California and Oregon, following a network of underground message boards and savvy riders who they find holed up in skate parks along the way. They pick up their school buddy Mateo Beltran and hitch a ride with their Native friend Obbie, on his way to safety on his dad’s reservation in Washington state, and even get some surprising help as they try to figure out a world gone crazy while they are On the Move.

Do you have any favorite childhood books?

Lots! I always liked slightly futuristic, sometimes dystopian stuff so it’s no wonder On the Move has elements of that. So, for example, I dug tons of Ray Bradbury, and The Tripods series of books set under domed cities and deep underground. I was very in to A Wrinkle in Time, too.

 

Do you have advice for aspiring authors?

Just write. Read a bunch and then write. After you write, if you’re aiming to publish or share your work, go back and rewrite a lot. Weed stuff out—gerunds, too much description, a lot of backstory. And remember to paint characters that really want something badly and are having a hard time getting it. Those are the stories that sing.

 

Where can we find you and your books?

Lots of places! Thanks for spreading the word:

Amazon: http://goo.gl/W0A2Zg

iTunes: http://goo.gl/nt6U03

Smashwords: http://goo.gl/1JEFYx

Kobo: http://goo.gl/xtE0MN

Amazon UK: http://goo.gl/qq98TV

Amazon Australia: http://goo.gl/fmwcdP

Amazon Germany: http://goo.gl/MRybDI

Overdrive—coming soon

There is a tour wide giveaway for the blog tour of On the Move. These are the prizes you can win:

- A set of Orangatang Cages—key clue in the book—and a skateboard sticker

- Skateistan t-shirt and a One the Move skateboard sticker

- On the Move Skateboard sticker!

 

Set of Orangatang Cages:

 

 

Skateistan t-shirt:

 

 

Here is the link to the rafflecopter giveaway:

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/1000e4f178/

 

 

 

Fall Into Books



Happy Fall Y'all! I'm participating in the Fall Into Books Blog Hop hosted Candlelight Reads. Enjoy hopping around to read about special books and enter to win super prizes. Let me tell you about my special book.....

My special place and time to read is at night in bed before I go to sleep. It's such habit that I can't sleep without reading first.  I get carried away into another world and my worries from the day evaporate.  It's hard to narrow my reading down to one special book, but I'll give it a go.

 I have to say the book I go back to reread most often is the Summer I Turned Pretty(series)by Jenny Han. I'm a sucker for YA fiction. Jenny Han writes so well that you're immediately drawn into the story. The description is so vivid that you feel like you're vacationing with Belly at the beach house in Cousins. The love Belly has for her real family and "summer " family is heartwarming. I feel connected with all of the characters in this story when I'm reading.  Yep, this is my special book. One I can read over and over, falling into it every time.

Before you go, enter to win a free signed copy of my e-book that was released in July. Also, check out all of the great books and prizes by clicking the link below to visit other awesome blogs.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

 

 



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Click here to view the other blogs in the hop...

Life and Books-Questions to Ponder

 

 

 

Life Questions

 

 

What's the best way to handle making difficult decisions?  I'm talking about the decisions that can change another person's life.  I found myself facing this once again this week.  Like storm clouds that move in and swallow up the bright sky,  life snuck up on me without notice and forced me to make a painful decision.  One that left a person I love heartbroken.

 

 How do I know I'm making the right decisions?  I wish that I had the perfect solution or formula to follow with a one hundred percent guarantee. Maybe someone will design a decision making app to download, tap in the problem you are facing and out comes answer...clear as crystal.

 

Unfortunately, difficult decisions don't work that way. You have to pull deep inside your heart and search.  Pray for the right answer and make the decision.  Sometimes, you just have to decide and hope. Like the poem by Shel Silverstein says... the voice inside will guide you.









This poem comes from the book "Falling Up "by Shel Silverstein.

 

 

 



Three Questions for the Week

 

 I thought I'd try something different called Three Questions for the Week.  I often ask myself questions as I go through a week of interaction with others or simply observing as a bystander. I decided to give some of the questions a go with my blog post this week. Here it goes...



 

Why do people you know, act like they don't?

 



  Our eyes met, so I know he saw me. I continue to stroll toward him prepared to smile and say hi, after all we grew up in the same town. I've known him since we were kids. He brushes past without a word, nod of his head, roll of his eyes....nothing. Okaaay....Maybe he didn't recognize me. 

   I weave through bodies until I reach my destination, the concession stand. The hot pretzels with cheese call out to me. After claiming my prize, I hurry back to my seat. On the way back I pass a lady that goes to my church. My smile is not returned. I'm tempted to call back to her. "I'm fine. How are you?"

I don't know why people act the way they do, but I do know one thing.

• A person's  actions'  toward you says a lot more about them than it does you.

 

  

Why are we drawn to heartbreakers?

 

 

   Emotion bubbles in my throat. Tears threaten to form and spill down my face, but I can't stop reading.  I have to know....will Samantha live? Will she end up with Kent?

 

Why is that we love movies and books that break our hearts? Look at the popularity of  the movie "The Fault in Our Stars".  I don't claim to know the answer to this question, but I'll give it my best shot. 

 

   The answer is.......life. Life experiences are emotion filled. We can relate to these characters because we have an emotional connection to their circumstances. In one way or another, we've all experienced grief, heartbreak, hope, love.

 

Click here to vote on my YA Heartbreaker List on Goodreads.

 

 

 

Who have you encouraged?

 

 This is a question I ask myself frequently. I truly believe that God wants us to lift each other up. What a difference it makes when someone speaks words of praise to you in comparison to criticism.

So this is a question I will continue to ask myself and hope I make a difference to another.

I believe the power of praise.

 

 

I have many more questions, so I will see you next week with three more. Have a great weekend everybody!

 

 

 





YA Boyfriend List

  

  What makes the perfect boyfriend?  My teen girls often discuss this topic and end up referring to fictional characters from YA books they read.  With some input from my girls as well as my own additions, I've compiled a short list of YA  characters that may make the perfect boyfriend. I have to say,  this post was a lot of fun to write. Here it goes...

* Augustus Waters-The Fault in Our Stars character by John Green won the number one spot. His name has been mentioned as the perfect boyfriend a billion times in our house!

The rest are listed in no particular order....

Landon Carter-this character from A Walk to Remember  by Nicholas Sparks won our hearts over when he made the decision to marry Jamie in spite of her sickness.

Kent McFuller-from the story Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver. Kent is a good guy who stays faithful to his friend and first kiss, Sam.  He believes her to be a good person even when she doesn't believe it herself.

Tim Dorscher-Tim is a super nice guy from the story Will the Real Prince Charming Please Stand Up by Ella Martin.   He always has Bianca's back.

Dean Holder - the misunderstood bad boy from Collen Hoover's Hopeless is not only a hottie, he loves Sky with all of his heart.

Brody Patterson-I have to put in a plug for Brody. I know he is perfect boyfriend material because I created him. From my story Beyond Vica, Brody is Gabby's center during a time that threatens to break her and her first real kiss.

That's all for now. There are many more that I could add to the list and will again in the future. What are your perfect YA fiction boyfriends?