TEN by Gretchen McNeil... GIVEAWAY!!!

And their doom comes swiftly.

It was supposed to be the weekend of their lives—an exclusive house party on Henry Island. Best friends Meg and Minnie each have their reasons for being there (which involve T.J., the school’s most eligible bachelor) and look forward to three glorious days of boys, booze and fun-filled luxury.

But what they expect is definitely not what they get, and what starts out as fun turns dark and twisted after the discovery of a DVD with a sinister message: Vengeance is mine.

Suddenly people are dying, and with a storm raging, the teens are cut off the from the outside world. No electricity, no phones, no internet, and a ferry that isn’t scheduled to return for two days. As the deaths become more violent and the teens turn on each other, can Meg find the killer before more people die? Or is the killer closer to her than she could ever imagine?

~~~

Um, so how excited are we for this book???

Answer: VERY.

I remember Gretchen posting the synopsis for TEN, like, a year ago, and I begged and begged her to let me beta for it. But Gretchen can be mean like that, so she never did let me. Luckily she and I share the same publisher, so I was able to snag an ARC and read the awesomeness before anyone else! 

And it TOTALLY lived up to my expectations.

People dying left and right, everyone's a suspect, and she had me guessing until the very end. Perfect for mystery lovers! I *highly* recommend. 

Oh, and DUH, I almost forgot to mention Christopher Pike blurbed it. That's right. Christopher freaking Pike. Um, yeah. How awesome is that?

Now's your chance to win an advance review copy. Simply use the Rafflecopter widget below to rack up points. 

Here are the rules:

1. Contest will end at midnight on Friday, June 29th.

2. Because I am AWESOME, the contest is international.

3. Spread the word about Gretchen's sophomore novel. It's a winner!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

"Life's a Journey, Not a Destination" and Other Clichés

So is that Aerosmith song in anyone else's head? Just mine? Okay, then.

In May, I started my "weight loss journey". Ugggggggggggggh! *eye roll* Cliché, right?

But the nature of clichés is that they're almost always right. 

Weight loss is a journey. For those who struggle with their weight, it's a daily thing. You don't reach a goal weight and HOORAY PARTY YOU WIN!!!! Nope, you put on your size 6 jeans and then have to figure out how to make your lifestyle such that you can MAINTAIN it for the rest of your days. And it's HARD.

For instance, I lost 60 pounds in college. It was a great accomplishment, and I kept the weight off for several years. But then I graduated and got an actual, real teaching job that required me to be at school 13 hours a day. I was lesson planning, grading papers, and directing a play. Working out just dropped down on my list of priorities. I started eating school food (which, FYI, not the healthiest in the world) and packed on the pounds I worked so hard to get off. After I met my husband, I managed to take 10-15 pounds off for the wedding, but I put that back on (and then some) when I had 2 kids. 

Now I've got a very long road ahead of me. If I stick with it, I could meet my goal weight NEXT SUMMER. And after that, it will be all about figuring out how to fit in the nutrition planning and workouts with the writing, teaching, and mothering. 

The weight loss journey is a lot like the publishing one. Right now, I'm yearning to be at that end point. I want to be skinny, I want to be published. What many people don't realize, though, is that THERE IS NO END POINT. Just like losing weight, getting published doesn't solve all your problems. It's not like you get a free pass from all the sucky things in life. Spouses will still lose their jobs, parents will still die. 

I guess the one thing you really get out of reaching your goals, whether it's getting published or losing 100 pounds, is the knowledge that, no matter what happens, you have the power to deal with it. You are strong enough. You are tough enough. 

You can do whatever you set your mind to. 

It's a cliché. But it's true.

Hello, summer!

Hey, my awesome peeps!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. May has been insane. It's one of the busiest times for a teacher. I had 29 30-50 page senior research papers to grade in a week. And then there was the sophomore stuff.

But, as of yesterday, I'm a free woman! I celebrated today by going to the Des Moines Farmers Market with my family. I love how hundreds (thousands?) of men, women, kids, and dogs all come together to celebrate food and art and music. And burritos.

But, my friends, I've been laying off the burrito-age. I have a goal to be down 20 pounds by my Cedar Rapids signing on June 4th. Almost there! I mean, it's only the beginning, but everyone has to start somewhere, don't they?

Writing-wise, I've been a bit unproductive. I'm expecting first pass pages for Slide #2 (IMPOSTOR) pretty soon. I dug out an old manuscript and have stripped it down with the intention of rewriting it when I get a chance. I just love the main character (a dude this time). Can't give him up.

And I have a new idea that I'm excited to work on soon. Next week I'll start my summer routine of writing in the morning and working out in the afternoon. I'm going to add weights into my repertoire, which will be a nice change of pace.

We've got a few weddings coming up soon, a trip to the lake, and our five-year-wedding anniversary.

What are you doing this summer?

Twelve Pounds of News

1. I've officially lost twelve pounds in three weeks. I credit the ridiculous amount of stress caused by getting our house ready to go on the market.

2. It looks like SLIDE is coming to Romania! Yayness!

3. My fellow Cedar Rapid-ians, I will be signing at Barnes & Noble on June 4th from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. This is a part of the Summer Reading Program Kickoff Party, and there will be a bunch of other children's authors there. So if you've got kids and you'd like to get them some awesome summer reading material, definitely swing by! (Also, SLIDE isn't only for teens. Or girls. It's a twisty turny mystery with a DASH of romance. Just sayin'.) If you can't make it but would like me to sign a book for you, call (319)393-4800 to pre-order a copy and tell them what you'd like me to write. Then you can pick it up when it's convenient for you!

How Selling a Manuscript is Like Selling a House

I spent last weekend cleaning our house from top to bottom, ridding it of clutter, and arranging everything to make our 850 square foot house look NOT tiny. Easier said than done. Anyway, it occured to me how similar selling a house is to selling a book.

Here are some tips for either one:

1. Curb appeal. You want your house to look inviting--intriguing, even. Make it so even a person casually driving by will long to come inside. Plant some flowers, hang a wreath on the door, make sure the lawn's mowed. Same thing with your query letter. Get rid of any pesky weeds... er, typos, that might trip up your potential buyer... er, reader.

2. Declutter. Get rid of the piles of mail just lying around, the foam blocks strewn everywhere, the five bottles of nail polish remover you've somehow accumulated. In your manuscript, eliminate any word echoes, excessive adjectives and adverbs, and tangents that add nothing to your story. You want both your house and your manuscript to be sleek and clean.

3. Get a second opinion. Invite your most honest, loud-mouthed, will-tell-you-the-truth-no-matter-how-much-it-hurts-est friend to poke around your house or manuscript. If she says your windows need to be scrubbed, do it. If he says the voice is too young, revise.

4. Finishing touches. This is the fun part. Go to Target and treat yourself to some cute curtains and a rug. Go through your manuscript and polish your prose, highlight your themes. Make your stuff shine.

5. Exercise. Finally, your house is on the market and your manuscript is being perused by agents and editors. Instead of killing yourself with the stress, burn up that energy by going for a walk, gardening, or taking your kids to the park. It's out of your hands now. All you can do is focus on something else.

So. Anyone want to buy a small but ADORABLE house?

YAmazing Race with MGnificent Prizes!

Welcome to my stop on the YAmazing Race with MGnificent Prizes!

If you're not sure what that is, you can visit The Apocalypsies Blog for details, but basically you check out a bunch of our blogs and take a quiz at the end for a chance at some awesome books and swag (I've donated a signed copy of SLIDE, and I know others are giving away some really cool stuff)! (Also, the race doesn't start officially until May 2 at noon EST so if you're here a bit early, check back in a bit!)

Okay, so what you need to do now is check out the synopsis for SLIDE and pay careful attention so you can answer the quiz question at the end correctly!

Vee Bell is certain of one irrefutable truth—her sister’s friend Sophie didn’t kill herself. She was murdered.

Vee knows this because she was there. Everyone believes Vee is narcoleptic, but she doesn’t actually fall asleep during these episodes: When she passes out, she slides into somebody else’s mind and experiences the world through that person’s eyes. She’s slid into her sister as she cheated on a math test, into a teacher sneaking a drink before class. She learned the worst about a supposed “friend” when she slid into her during a school dance. But nothing could have prepared Vee for what happens one October night when she slides into the mind of someone holding a bloody knife, standing over Sophie’s slashed body.

Vee desperately wishes she could share her secret, but who would believe her? It sounds so crazy that she can’t bring herself to tell her best friend, Rollins, let alone the police. Even if she could confide in Rollins, he has been acting off lately, more distant, especially now that she’s been spending more time with Zane.

Enmeshed in a terrifying web of secrets, lies, and danger and with no one to turn to, Vee must find a way to unmask the killer before he or she strikes again.

~~~

Have it memorized? Haha, great! 

Next you need to go to Cat Knutsson's blog and read about the fabulous SHADOWS CAST BY STARS! 

(CLICK HERE!)

Good luck, y'all! And may the odds be ever in your favor.