Still trying to work on the blog. I'm hopeless when it comes to things like this, luckily for me, I have a friend who is going to help. So, hooray for that! I'm not exactly sure when they new and improved blog will be up though. This one will have to do for now. I actually really like it, but there are buttons that lead to nowhere, and neither me or my friend can get rid of them lol. Oh well, it does the job for now.
I've been reading a wonderful book called The loves of Leopold Singer by L.K. Rigel. I'm about halfway through, and I'm actually a little sad because I know the book is going to end. She has such a talent for storytelling, she weaves the lives of these characters through time. You grow to either love or hate them. I can't wait to go to bed so I can read some more.

Ok boys and girls, I've decided that my book is no longer going to be a YA book. I was never really a fan of it being YA before because the characters are all in their twenties or thirties. I'm wanting the story to be a bit edgier then it was before, and there are going to be a few love scenes as well. That alone will make in not YA. I'm really going to focus on this first book in the series for now and hopefully knock out the story issues in the next month or so. Then, it will be getting beta readers, and editing, oh how I hate editing.

Website

Do you guys know I also have a website?? I frequently post news about the books, and excerpts from what I'm working on. Also if I'm running any contests, I'll have the info for them up on the website. Go check it out and let me know what you think.
www.jessicagibson.weebly.com

Marked, or whatever the new name will be

After I got my official rejection letter from the publisher, I took a giant step back and really evaluated my work. I think it's good, but I want it to be great. My plan is to add in another 20k words or so, and develop the relationships between the characters more. I'm renaming it, and I'll be doing a whole new cover. The first time around, I went with an illustrated cover because that was the vision I had in my head. I limited the market that would want to read my book, almost handicapping myself. I love the cover I had, its a work of art, one that I will probably have made into a poster and hang in my office, but I need to appeal to a broader market. If you have read the book before, it's going to be different enough that you will enjoy reading it a second time. I'm considering doing a contest for naming it, but, I haven't quite made up my mind. Leave me a comment if that would be something you all would be interested in down the road.

Reading....not writing

There are way too many good books out there for me to read. I'm reading like 3 books right now lol. L.K. Rigel is a genius, I'm reading her Loves of Leopold Singer, and totally loving it. She has such a way with words, really brings you into the story. I'm also re reading Finding Alice by Andrea Digiglio, she gave me a print ARC, and I'm relishing the sound of pages turning. Having a kindle, I sometimes miss the feeling of holding a book in my hands, so thank you Andrea for sending me the book. I just finished Between by Cyndi Tefft, it was so good. I'm a sucker for a Scot, so this book was totally for me.

I recently signed up to be a blog tour host. So, starting in February, I'll be hosting some amazing authors on here and hopefully be doing some giveaways.

New YA book I've been working on

I posted a bit of the YA Supernatural book I've been working on a while back, I'm going to repost it, and add some more. I'd love your thoughts:)

Some vampires are made, some are born, I am the latter. My parents were both vampires, so it was my lot in life to be one too. My name is Cali Ericson, I’m 16 years old, and I hate being a vampire. When people here vampire, they automatically think cool and put together. The image of Kate Bekinsale, or any of those vampire chicks from Twilight come to mind. I am so not that kind of vampire. First of all, I’m way too tall for my liking, and my long black hair is always tangly, no matter what i do to it. I’ve got the whole pale skin thing going on too, but it doesn’t look good on me, I just look sick or something. My one redeeming feature in my opinion is my eyes, their big, but not too big, and the prettiest shade of lavender. They look just like my mom’s, it was the one good thing I got from her. My mom is impossibly beautiful, she is what you think of when you imagine a vampire. The pale skin totally works with her raven black hair, she’s tall like me, but not in a gangly way. We live in Lake Forest, an upscale suburb of Chicago, pretty close to the city. Up until now, I’ve been in a private school for beings of a supernatural nature, but the economy took a crap, so now I get to go to public school. My mom says its just for a little while, until my dad can rebuild his financial empire or whatever. I contemplated running away, but that was too cliche even for me. So, I’m resigned to my fate, to waste away in public school like all of the mortal children. The only plus in this situation, is my best friend Greta Sorensen is going to be going with me, so at least I won’t be totally alone. Greta and I are total opposites, she’s petite, with short white blond hair, ice blue eyes, and tan skin. I’ve always envied her tan skin. She’s a shape shifter, she can turn into anything that’s alive, people, animals, bugs. I’ve known her my whole life, the supernatural community isn’t as big as you might think, our mom’s have been friends since before we were born. The first day of school is tomorrow, and I’m totally dreading it.

“Caliope, can you come down here please?” my mom yelled from downstairs. I groaned inwardly, not wanting to have another talk about how going to public school wouldn’t be that bad. I took my time going down the stairs, and walking to the kitchen. I found my parent’s sitiing at the table when I came in. “what’s up?” I asked as I took my usual seat across from my parents. My dad winked at me, his blue eyes twinkeling. “this isn’t one of those talks Cal, don’t worry.” he said. “we actually got you a present for your first day of school, do you want to see it?” My mood instantly lifted “yeah, where is it?” my parents got up, and I followed suit, they led me out to the garage. my dad pushed the button for the opener, and the garage door slid open, revealing a shiny black car with a bow on it. “you guys got me a car?” i asked incredulously. “i though the whole reason I was going to public school was because we’re broke.” “its not the BMW we had hoped to buy you when you turned 16, but its a good car.” my mom said, a touch of sadness in her voice. I didn’t care what kind of car it was, it was a car, and that’s all that mattered. I threw my arms around both of their necks, and hugged them tightly. “thank you, thank you, thank you.” I yelled back as I ran to check out my new wheels. My parents had gotten me a brand new Toyota Camry, fully loaded with every possible bell and whistle available. “this is so awesome, I can’t believe you really bought me a car. Can I go show Greta?” my mom was prepared for this, she tossed me my wallet, and my dad tossed me the keys. “don’t stay out too late Cali, you have to be up early tomorrow.” I blew them both a kiss and hopped into my new car. I grabbed my cell out of my pocket and texted Greta to let her know I was on my way. I turned the radio up, and took off to Greta’s house.

Greta was outside when I pulled up, she let out a shriek of excitement when she saw the new car. “your parent’s bought you a car? That’s so freaking awesome, now we don’t have to take the bus to school.” “I totally hadn’t though of that, you’re right. We don’t have to be total losers our first day of school. Get in, lets go somewhere.” Greta jumped in, and they took off. “lets go get something to eat, I’m so hungry.” Greta said. “when are you not hungry Gret?” I replied with a laugh. I steered the car in the direction of the only place that would accommodate both of us, Bite. “Are you nervous about tomorrow yet?” Greta asked as she leaned back in her seat. “I don’t know, kind of, I guess I’m not looking forward to getting stared at. I’m so over the fact that we have to be so secretive. I feel like we’d be way more popular if we could just come out and say what we are.” Greta nodded her head in agreement. “maybe we should be cheerleaders, arent’t they always popular?” she asked me. “Right Gret, I can just see us now, way too bouncy hair, and a tiny skirt. That’s my idea of hell right there.” We pulled into the parking lot, and I parked next to a shiny silver Mercedes convertible. “Great, it looks like Olivia’s here.” Greta said a curse word under her breath. Olivia Marcos was beauty personified, she always looked as though she had just stepped off a catwalk. She was tall and thin with long auburn waves that fell to her waist, and emerald green eyes. She had a reputation of being kind of an ice queen if you weren’t part of her posse. “Whatever, I don’t care if she’s here or not Cali, let’s just go have a good time” Truthfully, I just wanted to put the car in reverse and go somewhere else, but I can’t run from my problems forever. With a sigh I turned off the car and grabbed my wallet from the center console. “Ok, lets do this” Greta laughed at me “you make it sound like we’re going to the dentist or something.” “I know, I’m sorry, she just brings out the worst in me.” “That’s alright, she has that effect on pretty much everyone.” After slamming the door and arming the alarm we set off towards the door. The place was busy as usual, we had to wait 15 minutes for a table. Greta rolled her eyes as the hostess sat us 2 tables over from Olivia and her posse of brainless mini me’s. Olivia made some smart remark we didn’t hear as we walked past, and her gaggle of friends all giggled. Once we were seated I scanned the room to see who else was here. There were a bunch of kids from our old school scattered amongst the families eating. Then I saw him, the boy who had been my crush since the 1st grade, Asher Conrad, looking as delectable as always. He saw me staring and waived before going back to his conversation. “of course he saw me looking at him” I said with a groan. “who cares about him anymore anyway, there’s going to be tons of new boys to drool over.” The waitress showed up to take our orders. Greta got something meaty, and I ordered a blood smoothie. “ok, I should have that for you in a few minutes, thanks for being patient, we’re slammed today.” the waitress said as she scurried off to drop our orders. I sulked a bit, I didn’t want to meet new boys, I wanted that boy. “Hey Cal, snap out of it. It’s not like you’ll never see him again, we come here all the time, plus we’ll see him at the Supe Sumit meetings.” The Supernatural Summit is an organization dedicated to maintaining the secrecy of all supernatural beings living on earth. Each major city had their own chapter, they’re kind of like Freemason’s, but way more secret. There were meeting twice a month, every other Friday, and they were mandatory once you turned 16. Greta and I had only been going for about 6 months, our birthdays are three weeks apart. I had always thought there would be some sort of ceremony, or like a swearing in or something, but we just showed up and listened. My mom said that’s pretty much all you do. Not super exciting, but at least I’d get to stare at Asher a few times a month. “I know, I’m just bummed that we won’t be in school with him anymore.” “I know, but I seriously think it’s time for you to move on. If you were going to make a move on him, don’t you think you would have done it already?” She arched an eyebrow at me in question. “Maybe I don’t want to be the one to make a move, did you ever think of that? Why is it that only girls like Olivia get to be swept off their feet? Even awkward girls need love.” Greta laughed. “Ok, I give up, keep on pining after him all you want. But promise me this, if a hot guy asks you out, say yes.” “I’m not promising anything, I’ll consider it, but since it’s not going to happen, this conversation doesn’t matter.” The waitress came back with our food, Greta’s steak looked like it was still a little bit alive. My smoothie was divine, not too think, and perfectly smooth. I listened to Greta talk while she ate, my eyes wandering back to Asher every now and then. Asher was gorgeous, tall and muscular with sandy blond hair and piercing blue eyes. He was a vampire as well, so he had the pale skin thing going too, but it totally worked for him. He caught me staring at him again and I quickly looked away, if I was capable of blushing, my cheeks would be on fire. “Are you almost done?” I asked Greta, eager to get out of here before something more embarrassing happened. “Mmm yeah, I’m done.” she said and pushed her clean plate away from her. I signalled the waitress to bring us the check and leaned back in my chair. “what’s the rush anyway?” I sighed “Asher caught me staring at him again, and I feel super awkward.” Greta laughed “hey, at least in public school you won’t have to worry about that right?”

After I dropped Greta back at her house I drove around by myself for a while. I ended up down by the river, and I stopped for a bit to watch the boats coming back in from their day of fishing. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed someone walking towards me and waving. I was stunned to see Asher walking towards me. He motioned for me to roll the window down and I obliged. “Hey, did you get a new car?” he asked. “Yeah, my parents bought it for me today. I guess its sort of a peace offering for making me go to public school this year.” “yeah, I heard that you and Greta were transferring out, that totally sucks.” Inside I was hyperventilating, but outside I played it cool. “Yeah, it totally sucks, but at least I won’t be stuck with the mortals alone.” He flashed me a brilliat smile. “Yeah, that’s true. Do you think you can give me a lift home? I was going to walk home, but now you’re here.” I unlocked the door for him. “sure, hop in” What on earth am I going to say to this beautiful boy in the car with me? I glanced over at him, and he seemed kind of nervous too, which made me feel loads better. We drove in silence for a bit, and then Asher finally spoke. “I saw you staring at me at Bite.” My insides tied themselves in knots. What was I supposed to say to that? “Um yeah, sorry” Wow, that was super lame, way to go Cali. Asher smiled, “It’s ok, I was staring at you too, you just never caught me looking.” I was flabbergasted, he was looking at me too, maybe life doesn’t suck so bad after all. “What street do I turn on to get to your house?” I asked, my tone a bit too high pitched for my liking. “In two blocks turn left and we’re the third house on the right.” I nodded and tried to concentrate on driving. I was trying desperately not to hyperventilate, I was in such close proximity to Asher, I was freaking out. I pulled up in front of his house and he turned to face me, his blue eyes burning a hole through my soul. “We should hang out” he said and leaned over and kissed me softly on the lips. I wanted to say something, anything at all, but I was frozen. He smiled and got out of the car, with a final wave he walked up the driveway to his house. I felt light headed, did that just actually happen? I snatched my phone out of the center console and furiously texted Greta before I took of towards my house. By the time I had driven two blocks, Greta called me, I put her on speaker. “What the heck happened after you dropped me off?” she asked excitedly. “I wasn’t ready to go home, so I drove around for a while, and I ended up by the river. Asher was there, and he came up to my car and we talked for a few minutes. He asked for a ride home and told me he saw me staring at him tonight, but wait, he said he was staring at me too. When we got to his house he said we should hang out, and then he kissed me. What’s going on? This kind of stuff never happens to me.” All of that came out in a rush of words. “I’m actually kind of speechless.” Greta said “What did you say after he kissed you” I groaned “Nothing, I just sat there like a weirdo looking at him. I didn’t even give him my number or anything.” Greta laughed, “He knows how to find you if he wants to. Stop freaking out, this is good right? This is what you’ve been waiting for since the first grade. Just let it happen.” My breathing was slowing down, and I started to feel somewhat normal. “You’re right, I’m being a freak about this.” “Of course I’m right, when am I ever wrong?” “Shut up” I said laughing. “I’ll pick you up at 7:00, so be ready.” “Uggh, that’s so early, ok, I’ll see you then.” I pressed the end button and drove home lost in my thoughts.

My parents were in the family room watching some documentary about sharks when I walked in from the garage. “Hey, I’m home.” I called out from the kitchen. “Hi sweetie, did you and Greta have a good time?” my mom called out. “Yeah, it was nice” I said as I walked in a flopped down next to my dad. I leaned into the cushions of the couch and watched as Great White sharks launched themselves out of the water, jaws snapping closed on either water, or seals. The water went red, and I felt my fangs run out, my eyes going glassy as I watched the shark tear into the seal. We were all riveted to the tv, the scene finally ended, and I all felt my muscles calm down. My fangs snicked back up and I licked my lips. “I’m going up to my room” I announced as I got up. I planted a kiss on both my parents’ cheeks and headed up the stairs. I tossed my phone on the bed and grabbed my laptop from the desk. I turned it on and went to change into my pj’s while it booted up. Five minutes later I was plopped down on the bed scrolling through Facebook. Asher sent me a message, he wanted my phone number. Well, that answers that. I thought for a moment, and then typed in the digits and hit send. I wasted some more time checking out stuff online, books I wanted to get and junk like that. Just as I was getting ready to shut the computer down, Asher sent me another message asking if I wanted to go out this week. I replied yes without even thinking. He sent another message telling me he’d call me tomorrow after school. I felt like my heart was going to explode, how was any of this possibly happening. I turned the computer off and lay staring at the ceiling for a while before I finally settled down enough to read. I do a lot of reading at night, born vampires don’t need sleep to survive, made vampires will sleep all day due to the fact that they burn in the sun. I can go in the sun without any problems, my mom says it has something to do with our blood as born vampires. It’s all very hush hush apparently. I grabbed my Kindle and settled in for a night of reading.

I rummaged through my closet at dawn, trying to pick out just the right thing to wear. This whole process was so nerve racking because at private school we wore uniforms. I finally settled on jeans and a long sleeve t. I heard my parents talking downstairs, all of the rooms in the hosue are soundproofed due to our excellent hearing, so it was more just sound that I heard. I gave myself a quick once over in the mirror and decided I passed inspection and headed for the door. The voices stopped when I opened my door, “Cali, you’re up early” my mom called from the kitchen. “I guess. What were you guys talking about before?” My parents exchanged an unreadable look. “Nothing important.” My mom said, I was obviously being brushed off. I grabbed a container from the fridge and popped it into the microwave for twenty seconds. I shook the bottle and my fangs descended as I opened the top and took a big gulp. I closed my eyes, enjoying the heady feeling I got when I swallowed the blood, heat rushing down my throat. When I opened my eyes, my parents were watching me. “what?” I asked defensively. My mom opened her mouth to speak, but closed it again. “You need to learn how to hunt Cal” My dad said gently. “It’s not natural for you to drink out of a bottle for your whole life.” We’d been round and round on this subject, the thought of hunting and biting another person seemed kind of ooky to me. “I’m not having this discussion again right now. I don’t need to be thinking about hunting and blood right before I go to a school full of mortals.” I snapped. My dad raised his hands in a gesture of peace, I glared at them both and stomped back up to my room. I paced around in my room, trying to calm myself down a bit. My fangs were still out, I’m still trying to learn how to control my emotions, but being a teenager is rough.

I pulled up in front of Greta’s house at 7:00 on the dot. The door flew open, and she ran out half dressed with a piece of toast in her mouth. “I’m almost ready, want to come in for a few?” I turned the car off and followed her into the house. Greta’s mom Valerie was making bacon in the kitchen. Valerie Sorensen was short and petite like her daughter, she had waist length blond hair that she always had tied up in a messy bun on the top of her head. Her cornflower blue eyes were as warm and friendly as the smile she always wore. She was perpetually in spiked heels, whether she was in jeans or dressed up for the night. I’d even seen her chase someone down in a pair of Louboutin’s, it was amazing. “Hey Cali, how are ya sweetie?” she said as she pulled me into a hug and kissed my cheek. I smiled and hugged her back, Valerie was like my second mom. “I’m good, a little nervous about the new school, but ok otherwise.” “Greta told me about your new car. I know your mom was really excited to give it to you.” “It’s pretty awesome, plus its got a ton of space for all the new friends we’re going to be making” The last bit was said with a tinge of sarcasm and Valerie chucked a towel at me. “You guys will be fine, just be your sparkling selves and you’ll have tons of friends by days end.” she winked at me and went back to the bacon. “Gabe, get down here before your sister eats all the bacon” she yelled up the stairs. Gabe is Greta’s older brother, he just turned 18. He’s tall and muscular, most shape shifters tend to be ripped. He has the same blond hair as Greta, he wears it short and messy, and the same blue eyes as his mom. He smiled at me when he came down the stairs into the kitchen. “Hey Cal, what’s up?” he said as he snagged some bacon and a plate full of scrambled eggs. I smiled, I used to have a huge crush on Gabe, but I have since realized how unattainable he is. “Hey” I said back. “Come on Greta, we have to go” I said urging her along with a gentle shove. She blew a kiss to her mom and waived at her brother as we shot out the door. Once we were in the car I told her about Asher saying he was going to call me after school. “Wow Cal, that’s crazy. Hey, maybe he can set me up with one of his hot friends and we can double.” “Which one?” “Who cares, they’re all hot” she said with a laugh. A few minutes later we were puling into the student lot behind the high school. I parked in one of the back rows, and we sat in the car for moment. “are we ready for this?” I asked, not feeling super confident. “Sure, why not” she replied, her voice giving away her nerves. We both got out and grabbed our bags from the back and walked into Lake Forest High. The smell of hundreds of humans and their warm blood hit me like a ton of bricks. I staggered back a few steps but I quickly recovered. I ran my tongue across my teeth, making sure my fangs were retracted. Greta turned her head back to check on me, I nodded my head that I was ok, and we walked towards the front office. There were already a bunch of kids lined up to get their schedules, I was glad that we started now, and not halfway through the year, at least we wouldn’t look like dorks. We waited our turn, casually watching people as they walked past. A tall guy with light brown hair and chocolate brown eyes walked past and caught me looking at him. He smiled and continued walking. Great, class hasn’t even started and I’ve already embarrassed myself. Mercifully it was finally our turn, we stepped up to the table and gave our names. Once we had our schedules, we saw that we had all but one class together, thank the lord for small miracles. We went in search of our locker, we decided to just share one, it was on the second floor. We stowed some extra stuff we had brought, mainly blood in sealed bottles for me, it looked like fruit punch to the naked eye. The bell rang and we scurried off to our first class, thankfully that wasn’t the one class we didn’t have together.

We met back at the locker at lunch, the class before that we didn’t have together. “How was it?” Greta asked as she shoved a few books into the locker. “Ok I guess.” I didn’t want to think about it really. That guy from earlier was in my class, and he sat two seats in front of me. He caught me looking at him like twice. If a person could die from embarrassment, I would have been dead on the spot. I don’t even know why I was looking, I’m not even interested in anyone but Asher. Greta looked at me, studying my face. “What happened?” She always knows when I’m hiding something, I hate that. “Nothing happened, just this guy caught me staring at him.” Her eyes lit up. “What guy? Is he cute?” “I saw him earlier, he’s just some guy, I don’t know his name or anything.” She looked at me again, smiling. “So he is cute then. You would have said if he wasn’t” She laughed, playfully hitting my shoulder. “Yes, he’s cute, but I’m not interested.” “Then why were you looking?” “I have eyes don’t I?” She laughed and we walked towards the parking lot, Juniors and Seniors have off campus lunch privileges. I was thankful that I didn’t have to worry about feeding while I was around so many mortals. I’m so over being a teenage vampire, from what my mom’s told me it gets way better in your 20’s. So only like four more years of nonsense to put up with. My parent’s look about 25, but in reality I think they’re closer to 90. My mom says born vampires usually stop aging in the mid twenties, so we get to look young and hot forever. Greta says its the same with shifters, they aren’t truly immortal like vampires though. They just age super slow, and can live hundreds and hundreds of years. We walked out to my car and drove somewhere to get Greta something to eat.

After school, I dropped Greta off and drove home quickly, anxious for Asher to call. My mom was in the kitchen when I came in, she looked up from her magazine and smiled. “How was your first day?” Her eyes were hopeful. “Pretty good I guess. It’s a lot different then where I was, being around that many mortals at once is intoxicating.” She nodded. “You get used to it, it gets a lot easier once you learn to hunt” I noticed the not so subtle hint about learning to feed on humans. I shot her a dark look and stomped off to my room. I dumped my bag on the ground and kicked off my shoes as I grabbed my laptop. I glanced at the clock, it was only 2:45, he probably wasn’t even home yet. I booted up the laptop and cruised around Amazon for a while, looking for new books to read. There was a knock at my door thirty minutes later, I figured it was my mom, so I ignored it and put some headphones on. A minute later, I almost screamed when Asher peaked his head in. I pulled out my ear buds and shut my laptop. “hey, sorry to just bust in on you, are you busy?” I shook my head, unable to speak. He came in and sat on the bed next to me. I was officially freaking out, Asher was sitting on my bed, in my room with me. If I had a heart beat, it would be racing. “So how was your first day with the humans?” “It was ok” I said, finally finding my voice. “Kind of weird actually, everyone smells so good.” He laughed, his fangs running out at the thought of blood. My breathing got shallower and my own fangs ran out, he looked so hot with his fangs out, I just wanted to throw him down on the bed and kiss him. He was watching me, his eyes darkening with a different sort of hunger then I was used to. We sat staring at each other for a moment or two until my mom knocked on the door. Our fangs snicked away quickly as she walked in. She eyed me for a second, “What are your plans for the rest of the day Cal?” I looked at Asher, he shrugged. “I think we’re just going to hang out, maybe go out for a while or something.” She nodded and left, not closing the door completely, how transparent can she be? “What should we do?” Asher asked me, reclining against my pillows. I know what I wanted to do, but I know its not happening. “We can watch a movie? Or go out or something.” “What kind of movie were you thinking?” I shrugged “Whatever you want is fine” He got up and started going through all my dvds under the tv. He finally decided on Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, one of my all time favorite movies. If it was possible, I liked him even more now. We arranged ourselves on my king size bed, me on one side, and him on the other. Twenty minutes into the movie, he pulled me closer to him so we were lying hip to hip and intertwined his fingers with mine. By the end of the movie I was laying with my head on his chest, and his hands were in my hair. I got up and stretched as the credits started to roll. He glanced at the clock, “I should go, I’ll call you tonight though.” He got up and stood in front of where I was sitting, he cupped my chin and tilted my lips to his. With a last smile he left, and I made a dash for my phone. Greta answered on the first ring. “did he call?” “even better, he came over.” “what? That’s crazy.” “I know, my mom got all parenty too, she made sure the door was open a crack.” “that’s so your mom. How did you guys leave it? Did he kiss you again?” Cali smiled into the phone. “yeah, he kissed me again, it was kind of amazing. He says he’s going to call me later tonight. The one thing I don’t get, is why now? What changed, he’s known me forever.” “I don’t know Cal, maybe he finally realized how amazing you are.” Cali laughed, “right Gret, I’m so sure. I’ll be by same time tomorrow morning.” “fine, fine, sweet dreams Cali” Greta said before hanging up. Cali smiled and dropped the phone on the bed before heading downstairs to see what her parent’s were up to.

I found my mom in the kitchen watching the food network on the tv above counter. Mom loved cooking shows, I’ve never understood why though, it’s not like vampires ate anything food like. “Did Asher leave already?” my mom asked absently, too absorbed in an episode of Chopped to give me her full attention. “Yeah, he left a little while ago. Where’s dad?” “Hmm? Oh, he’s at the office for a while, I’m not sure when he’ll be home tonight.” Cali nodded and went to grab some blood out of the fridge. I got a pouch and flipped the top before pouring it into a mug and popping it into the microwave.Mom’s show was ended just as the microwave beeped, and she swivelled to face me. “So Asher Conrad? This is a new development.” her mom said. Cali shrugged, feeling very uncomfortable with this conversation. “I guess, I gave him a ride home last night, and we watched a movie today. It’s not like he’s my boyfriend.” I wanted this little chat to be done, so I moved around the island to start up to my room. My mom had other ideas though. “You know, Asher’s dad and I dated when we were younger, before I met your dad.” That caught my attention. “what? was it serious?” Her mom smiled, remembering something, “no, not really, we were just kids, we had fun though. But, then my parent’s arranged everything with your father’s parents, and that was the end of it.” I had always thought the arranged marriages that vampires still clung to were outrageous, I mean really, this isn’t the dark ages anymore. “Did you even like dad when you met him” Cali asked. Her mom smiled “i thought he was cute of course, but we were really shy around each other at first. I met him two months before our wedding, we were both nineteen.” “nineteen?” i asked incredulously. I couldn’t imagine getting married so young, I wanted to go to college before I got married. I started to worry about the whole arranged marriage now that my mom brought up dating Asher’s dad. “Mom, you and dad haven’t arranged a marriage for me have you?” i asked nervously. “Cali, this really isn’t the best time to get into this, we should wait until your dad is here.” my mom said, a nervous look in her eyes. “oh no, you can’t say something like that and expect me to be ok with it. tell me now, what’s going on?” I all but screamed at my mom. after a moment of silence, my mom finally began to speak. “yes, we arranged a marriage for you shortly after you were born.” her voice was so quiet, i almost couldn’t hear the words she was speaking. “with who?” i asked, equally quiet. “Asher Conrad” “what? does he know about this?” she shrugged her shoulders, “maybe, i don’t know if his parent’s told him or not. i wanted to wait until you graduated to tell you, this isn’t how i wanted you to find out.” i threw my mug into the sink, the sound of it shattering didn’t even phase me as i ran up to my room to grab my keys. i threw the door to my room open, i quickly found everything i needed, and streaked down the stairs and out to the garage. my mom appeared in the doorway as i started the car, i rolled my eyes, and threw it into reverse. i called Greta as soon as i was away from my house. “cal?, what’s up? she asked when she answered. “i just found out, that my parent’s have an arranged marriage set up for me.” i blurted out, talking way too fast. “what? with who?” “here’s the best part Greta, it’s with Asher” “what?” she shrieked. “i know, and i have no clue if he even knows about this or not. if he does, it would explain why he’s so interested in me all of a sudden.” “are you on your way here?” Greta asked. “i was, but i think i want to talk to Asher about this. i need to know if what we have starting is real for him or not.” Greta was quiet for a minute, “is that a good idea right now Cali? your kind of upset, i don’t want you to do anything you’ll regret.” i sighed, “i need to talk to him, I'll be calm, i promise. I’ll call you when I'm on my way home.” “ok, i don’t like it, but what can i really do?” I smiled, Greta was such a good friend. “i promise, it will be fine. I'm pulling up to his house now ok, i have to run.” i hung up before she could protest any more. Asher was already outside when i pulled up, my mom must have called. he got in the car as soon as it stopped. “did you know?” i whispered. he nodded, “my parent’s told me a few weeks ago.” my heart sank, “so that’s why you’re suddenly so interested in me then right?” she looked him straight in the eyes, wanting him to say no, willing him to say the words. “i guess, i don’t know. i always kind of liked you, but when my parent’s said we’re supposed to get married, i figured i may as well pursue the feelings.” He looked uncomfortable, and kept staring down at his hands. “say something Cali” he pleaded. “I don’t know what to say Asher, this is all a little crazy.” he shrugged, “i don’t know, you had to expect an arranged marriage, just who you would be marrying would be a surprise.” I smiled wryly, “actually, i had hoped to talk them out of it. the whole idea of arranged marriage is so insane. This is 2012, not 1812.” Asher shook his head, “it’s not that simple Cali. Arranged marriage are designed to keep the blood lines pure.” “I’m aware of that Asher, I just don’t like the idea of someone telling me who to love.” He smiled at me and touched my lips with his thumb, “you can’t tell me that this is a bad match, i know you felt something before when we kissed.” I smiled against his hand, “i’m not saying I don’t like you, because I do, I’m just saying I don’t like being blindsided by it. I hate that you only pursued me because our parent’s signed some paper 17 years ago.” He dropped his hand then and went back to studying his hands. “I'm sorry” he whispered. “I should have told you from the start. I do like you Cali, that at least is real.” He leaned over and brushed his lips gently against mine. “I’ll call you tomorrow ok?” I nodded, and he got out and went back up to his house. I sat for a moment, trying to decide if I was still upset. I decided I wasn’t mad at Asher, but I was still mad at my parent’s. I drove over to Greta’s, wanting to prolong my eventual talk with my parent’s as long as possible.

Switching gears for a little while and working on the YA supernatural book I started back in November. My brain needs a break from Jilly, William, Caroline, and Patrick. I had a nice little start to the book already, so it was easy to jump back in and start writing. There's going to be vampires, shape shifter's, and a few other supernatural beings in this one. It's a true YA book, the characters are all 16 or a little older. I'm really enjoying the voice that Cali, the main character has. It's always hard trying to write something fresh in the YA genre, it feels like everything has already been told. This story, I'm hoping is different enough to be interesting.

Well, got my official rejection email from the one publisher who actually sounded interested in picking up my ms. Oh well, I guess it's back to square one with the self publishing. I'm hoping to re release the book in early summer once I can work out all of the kinks. Also, I'm hoping to get the novella finished around the same time so they can be released back to back. I've got some awesome people around me to help make this possible, so wish me luck.

I'm officially unstuck on book 2! I've knocked out about 1100 words in the last hour, in between making lunch for the monster, and being sick. I'm really excited, Caroline has really found her voice in this book. I'm hoping to write a bit more if the little guy lets me.

I got some really exciting news today, I'm going to be getting a print ARC version of Finding Alice! I literally cannot wait to re read it, I know I'm going to love it even more the 2nd time around. Andrea Digiglio is a genius.

Excerpt from Timewalker novella

Sorry for not getting the excerpt up yesterday, the day sort of ran away from me. Here is an excerpt from the novella that will be released in between books 1 and 2. It's not from the very beginning, but close to it.


William bolted upright in bed, sweat pouring down his face. he’d been dreaming about patrick again. It was the same dream he always had, Patrick was calling to him from inside of the tomb, but he couldn’t find where it was. He got up and walked over to the window, threw back the curtains, and opened the window as wide as it would go. He stood breathing in the cold evening air for a few minutes before returning to bed. He tried to go back to sleep, but after fifteen minutes he got up and got dressed. He felt restless, there was a feeling in his head that he couldn’t get rid of. He slipped out of the back door silently so he wouldn’t wake any of the servants. He wandered aimlessly along the dark streets, until he found himself in front of sabine’s house. He hadn’t really meant to come, but he found himself there none the less. He stood in front of the gates looking in at her windows, a movement off to the left caught his eye. He turned towards it and found Sabine standing in front of the gate. she smiled, and there was something unreadable in her eyes that william found intriguing.“I’m glad you’ve come my darling, I’ve been waiting for you.” “Did you call for me?” “Oui mon cherie, I have been longing to see you. come, let us go inside.” She whirled around, her white gown flying behind her and led him through the gates into the house. He was surprised to see all of the lamps were still lit at this hour. She led him through the house to her sitting room. She gestured him to sit on the couch and rang a small silver bell before sitting next to him. A few minutes later the butler he had met before entered the room. “Oui madame?” “ We desire some wine Henri, if you would be so kind to retrieve it for us.” He bowed and backed out of the room to fetch it. “Do you make a habit of calling to men you barely know in the middle of the night?” he asked her. She smiled and narrowed her eyes seductively. “Only those I find intriguing. Do you make a habit of going into ladies homes in the middle of the night?” It was his turn to smile. “Well, i suppose only those who call for me.” Sabine leaned back in her seat studying him. Finally she spoke. “I have been searching for a suitable companion for hundreds of years William. Do you know how lonely one can get in that amount of time? Always surrounded by people, but never really understood, or loved. I wish for you to be my companion and reside in my house. I can introduce you to many more like us, and you can ask the questions you so long to ask. You will be under my protection, so no harm will come to you. You will find that our people are not a kind group as a whole, but I know that you desire answers, and someone may have them. What do you say cherie? will you join me?” He thought for a time before responding. “Will you give me some time to consider your offer?” “Oui mon petite-amis, I will give you some time, but do not keep me waiting long.” They both stood up and she kissed him passionately, running her hands along the muscles of his back. She deepened the kiss, and his hands moved up to circle her waist, pulling her closer to him. When she pulled away, he stood in stunned silence feeling a bit breathless. “I thought that might sweeten the deal non?” With a swish of skirts she whirled around and was gone. Henri returned a moment later with the wine to find that his mistress had gone already. A flicker of fear crossed his face, but he masked it quickly. “Can i show you out monsieur? William nodded and let him lead the way back through the house to the door. He found himself at the gates a few moments later and took one last look at the house. Shaking his head, he began the long walk home.

I've been working on a novella in the Timewalker series the last day or so. It's going to focus on William and Sabine, and their time together. I've got the first few chapters of it done, and it's pretty good. Be prepared for it to be a bit darker then Marked. I want to explore the relationship between Sabine and William, why he hates her so much in Marked. I'm going to post an excerpt at some point today:)

So I've decided to pull Marked from Amazon. The version I had up for sale was not the revamped version, and I'm not super excited with people buying something I don't think is my best work. I submitted my ms to a smaller publisher, so I'm crossing my fingers and praying that they like it and accept it. If they do then all sorts of exciting things will be happening. so, everyone pray that they do :)

I've been an absent poster the last few days, sorry. Yesterday I was asked to beta read a book for someone in my writing group, and I literally couldn't tear myself away from it. I kept putting my kindle down and trying to do other things, but it called to me until I went back to it. That right there is the mark of an incredibly talented author, when the story is so compelling, that you can't walk away. When it get's closer to the book being ready to come out, I'll tell you the name of the book.

I've been on a reading spree, and not a writing spree lately, but I guess every author goes through dry spells. I'm trying not to let it bug me, but I have a nagging voice in the back of my mind telling me I should be writing lol. Oh well, I guess I'll finish eventually right?

Deceived by Stephanie Nelson

Deceived, the follow up to Stephanie Nelson's smash hit Craved is now available on Amazon, and Barnes and Noble. I got mine last night, and stayed up entirely too late because I HAD to finish it. I don't say this often, but I liked this one better then the first one, and I loved that one, so you know this one is amazing.

Gwen’s life has been a downward spiral since she discovered vampires crave witches blood. She’s summoned to Moon, the town of witches, where she learns that a war is brewing and she’s the secret weapon. Paired with the Angel of Death, it becomes quickly evident that she’s more powerful than she ever realized. But this reaper isn't the robe wearing, scythe carrying kind – he’s a ruggedly handsome handful that has his eye on Gwen. As if that isn’t enough, she’s still tormented by Ian Desperaux’s constant intrusion into her thoughts and dreams. As Gwen struggles to balance her responsibility to the witches’ council and her secret relationship with her vampire boyfriend, Aiden, she’ll soon discover exactly what it means to be Deceived.


Here is an excerpt from Deceived

He regarded me with a look I’d seen a few other times, an expression I tried to ignore, but at the moment, I couldn’t look away from. I was a woman who noticed attractive men, but I would never act on those feelings. I loved Aiden as sure as the night is long. But Dorian stirred something deep inside of me, and we connected on a level I hadn’t with Aiden. It wasn’t easy to ignore something that profound, especially when it was staring at me like I was the sexiest girl in the world.
Dorian took a step forward. His arms hung limp, but I could tell he was nervous about what was happening between us. The tightness in his jaw and triceps betrayed the cool confidence he was trying to portray. An inch of icy air separated us. I lifted my eyes to his, and we stared at each other. No words were needed; our body language spoke for us. Dorian brought his arm up and with the back of his hand caressed the side of my face with more gentleness than I imagined. My eyes closed against the feel of it. A shuffle of feet enticed my eyes open just in time to see Dorian bending forward and toward my eager lips.

It's available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble

http://www.amazon.com/Deceived-Gwen-Sparks-Series-ebook/dp/B006RY52AQ/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1325482984&sr=1-2
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/deceived-judd-nelson/1013087317?ean=2940013798526&itm=3&usri=stephanie+nelson



You can stalk Stephanie on Facebook, and have access to updates on her upcoming books!
www.stephanie-nelson.com

Guest post from the amazingly talented Andrea Digiglio

We are joined today by Andrea Digiglio, author extraordinaire. She's been kind enough to answer some questions, and to give us an excerpt from her debut novel Finding Alice. I posted a review for that book last month, it was absolutely phenomenal. The book will be available to buy February 19th.

Check out her blog for updates on her books. She's got a giveaway going on, follow the link to enter
http://andrea-digiglio.blogspot.com/2011/12/chance-to-win-advanced-ebook-copy-of.html


Q and A

Q: What do you enjoy reading? Do you read often?
A: I’m a sucker for anything paranormal. I read young adult, YA crossovers, fiction and romance; all of which are also fantasy/paranormal. If it has witches, demons, ghosts, fallen angels, vampires, werewolves and anything in between I’m bound to read it. I do now, a year ago I bought a kindle and my credit card has felt the hardship of my new bond.

Q: Have you always been a writer?
A: Yes, well at least I have always been a writer at heart even if I was the only one to read it. When I was eight or so I wrote a novella called Marina’s Mallrat in my composition notebook. I have no idea what happened to it but I am sure it was awful. I have from time to time worked on novels but spent the last decade writing screenplays.

Q: Was it hard to write your debut novel?
A: Hard no. Writing the first draft is my favorite part. You have this idea on how things will happen and the characters take over and you are just along for the ride.

Q: You said you are sharing an excerpt from Finding Alice, correct?
A: Yes, I wanted to share a piece that didn’t give too much away. This particular piece is a moment right after a traumatic event; it is an emotionally challenging moment for Alice. I hope you enjoy.




“I knew I was home when I walked up my driveway without a memory of the drive itself. I walked in, locking the door and shoving the table in front of it. I stumbled up the stairs, first aid kit under my arm, while juggling three bottles of vodka in my bashed up hands.
I turned the shower on and climbed in with the vodka. I slowly started peeling off my blood-soaked clothes, flinching, wishing I was numb. I poured a little vodka on my body wounds and down my face in between chugging some to deaden the pain. I opened the second bottle, doing more drinking than cleaning. I looked down at myself and found bruises starting to form on almost every inch of my body. Head to toe, my skin was covered with blacks and purples, reminding me of my box of feathers. Tears filled my eyes and for the first time in my entire life, they were my own. I sat curled up on the floor of my shower, wishing the salt I was tasting was from the scent of ocean that radiated from Cole. I drowned it out with more vodka.
I spent the next day in bed, coddling my last bottle of vodka. Camille called several times to see if I was working. Her last text message read, Are you okay? Max called me and said some anonymous caller called the cops and said they saw two guys break into the bar and then kick the crap out of each other in the parking lot. Max is freaking out. Call me. I’m worried. I ignored them all. Max called a few times as well. I texted him back with, See you Thursday. He replied with an Okay and left it at that.
Around four am, I dragged myself out of bed. I walked to my front door to find it still covered with furniture, as if an intruder couldn’t get past it. I clutched the most recent bottle of vodka I had become so attached to and finally set it down. I struggled to push the furniture to the side and opened the door. I love the smell of four am. I walked cautiously to my car to pull out my art supplies. I attempted to ignore the giant dent while painfully dragging my supplies in the house. Just to be safe, I returned the furniture to its spot in front of the door, snatching the vodka before taking off for the spare room.
I dumped everything onto the floor and dug through it for my iPod. I plugged it into my stereo system and cranked it up, loud enough to feel the vibrations rush through me. I reached down, almost collapsing in agony, to grab my charcoal. There were no canvases left in the house so I shoved my extra couch away from the wall and started rubbing the charcoal onto the wall. Music, vodka, and art were not a cure, but they soothed the soul.” –Excerpt from Finding Alice




Thanks again for stopping by to brighten my day Andrea.