Contest and Cover Reveal for Taking Back Forever by Karen Amanda Hooper

Karen Amanda Hooper, author of Tangled Tides and Grasping at Eternity, is sharing her newest cover today. And seriously? What a cover! Honestly, I think this is one of my favorite book covers of all time. The colors, the crop, the composition, the way it all works with the story...love, love, LOVE. This book is the sequel to Grasping at Eternity, book 2 of The Kindrily series, is titled Taking Back Forever.

I absolutely loved book one (and Tangled Tides), and I'm bursting to read this one. Bursting! 

Karen and her cover designer, Alexandra Shostak, have worked side by side to create the Taking Back Forever cover. After lots of hard work (and a lot of love) here it is…

Want to know more? Here’s a summary of Taking Back Forever.

Forever is worth the fight.

Maryah erased all memory of her past lives, but she couldn’t erase her soul mate Nathan, or his undying love. Now, Maryah and Nathan have a second chance at a future together, but first Maryah must remember the person she used to be and embrace her supernatural gifts—more than one kindrily member’s life depends on it.

Maryah’s power is Harmony’s best hope of finding her kidnapped soul mate, Gregory. But Harmony isn’t big on asking anyone for help, and she’s tired of waiting, so she’s taking matters into her own hands. Heaven help anyone who stands in her way.

To celebrate, Karen and Alexandra are giving away signed paperbacks of Grasping at Eternity. (Signed by Karen AND Alexandra!)

Contest is open internationally!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Alexandra Shostak is a writer of dark and fantastical things, mostly meant for teenagers. She is a freelance cover designer, and is available to do covers and interior artwork directly for authors. She is also a former Irish dancer, a guitar player, and the person who can get you through the zombie apocalypse without getting bitten.

If you’re especially worried about the zombie apocalypse, you can find her in one of these places:

www.alexandrashostak.com

www.coversbyalexandra.com

www.yaconfidential.com

or on Twitter as @a_shostak

Karen was born and bred in Baltimore, frolicked and froze in Colorado for a couple of years, and is currently sunning and splashing around Florida with her two beloved dogs. She's addicted to coffee, chocolate, and complicated happily-ever-afters. Due to her strong Disney upbringing, she still believes in fairytales and will forever sprinkle magic throughout all of her novels.

www.KarenAmandaHooper.com

Twitter: @karen_hooper

Happy Book Birthday, Natalie!

Today is a huge day for my dear friend and crit partner, Natalie Bahm.

The Secret Underground is released today! And, as you probably already know since you read this blog, Natalie is donating the profits to my little grandson, Jayden, who you probably also already know considering how often I talk about him here on the blog.

I thought, to celebrate, I'd tell you a few of the things I know about Natalie.

1. She is an incredibly talented writer. I consider myself enormously privileged to be one of the first people who gets to read her work. I've read The Secret Underground so many times and I STILL get the chills at the end, I still freak out just a little bit, and I still love every minute of it. I'm also incredibly lucky to have her be my first (and sometimes, only) reader. She's honest, tells it like it is, while still being my biggest cheerleader and nudging me every day for new pages to read. I write to entertain her as much as I write to entertain myself. I don't know what I'd do without her.

2. When I can't sleep, I often listen to the Secret Underground audiobook (which Nat narrates) because it's the perfect bedtime story and no one could read it the way Natalie does. I bet her kids sleep well after she's read to them!

3. She has enormous patience for long emails--which anyone who emails me can tell you are the only sort I seem to be able to write. It's why I don't write poetry and short stories. Whenever I apologize for the novella I just sent her about my day, she always tells me she loves my emails. That, my friends, is loyalty and patience, right there :)

4. Most of all, she is a wonderful friend. When I'm all alone and my heart is breaking and I'm overwhelmed with fear because the little boy who owns my heart is going downhill and there is nothing but bad news, Natalie is the one who is right there with me and knows just what to say. Sometimes it's "he's going to be fine, I'm sure of it," and sometimes it's, "I know that maybe this time he won't make it, but I'm here and I care," and it's always "I am praying for him, we're all praying for him." I'm grateful every day for someone who knows exactly which line to choose.

 Those are the most important things I know about Natalie, my friend, and someone I'm very glad to know.

Thank you for all you've done, Nat, from me, from my family, and most of all, from Jayden. He knows all about Auntie Natalie and her book. One day, hopefully he will get a chance to give her a big thank you hug :)

In case you haven't seen this already...

As I've already gushed, my crit partner and wonderful friend, Natalie Bahm, is releasing a book shortly called The Secret Underground. It's up for pre-order for the ebook now, and will be released as a paperback soon. The ebook releases on September 28th, so we're nearly there! It's an adventure any kid would love to read. And, of course, the profits are going to benefit Jayden's Fund, which is about the most generous thing I could imagine anyone doing. Ever.

Natalie also made a book trailer, starring Mr. Jayden Huynh himself :) I warn you, have a tissue handy when you watch. I'm a soppy mess every time I see it, of course. It's gorgeous, and the song is so beautiful, don't you think?

Old Faithful

I woke up this morning all full of deep thoughts. I think this may be something that happens when you sleep at night. I'm not sure. It doesn't happen to me that often (the sleep thing, not the deep thinking. Okay, the deep thinking too). Since I'm full of wisdom today, I thought I'd share. Goodness knows I share enough of my jackass moments that it's about time for some balance.

I decided, while lying with my face buried in my pillows (a self-defense mechanism that keeps my sinus-infection-fueled snoring from waking me up) that reliability and dependability ought to be celebrated more.

We're pretty good at making dependable folks the butt of wisecracks, as if caring about how you treat other people makes you some sort of social outcast. Heck, in some circles it probably does. Or maybe it's just one of those things where it's a whole bunch easier to poke fun at someone who regularly does something you struggle to do, than it is to struggle harder at doing it yourself.

It's not easy to do what you say you'll do in the time frame you say you'll do it in. It's the less-fun option. Sometimes it means putting aside things that are important to you, that you're feeling all jazzed about, and doing something you'd rather not. People with follow-through don't do it because they're too boring to think of anything better to do, but because they care enough about how they treat others to make it a priority.

Letting people down because of circumstances I can't control (and my life has been all about that in the past couple years) chips away at something about myself I've always liked. So, it's one of the things I work hardest to be better at.

I never realized how much it means to me to be successful at it until a friend thanked me for it. Much like an excitable puppy (which pretty much describes me in general) that bit of appreciation made me work even harder at it--imagine what would have happened had that praise been accompanied by chocolate? Scary thought, you guys.

So, I reckon, if you're lucky enough to have someone reliable in your life, you should tell them so. Or give them chocolate. Either is good. It's positive reinforcement. Think about it, it'll make them even better at it which can only benefit you. Supernanny would be all over this for an idea. Sheldon tried it out with Penny on The Big Bang Theory to great success (and goodness knows there is no greater source of wisdom in this or any other universe than TBBT). Chocolate and big hugs all round!

PS: I wrote this because I wanted to grasp hold of this small moment of wisdom while I had it. It is not directed at anyone else, or looking for praise (mainly because I haven't earned it much in the past few years!). No veiled nudges from me, because mostly, I'm kinda oblivious when other people let me down. I'm more interested in what I do. 

Adventures in Babysitting

So, last night I thought I'd be a super-generous and give Em and Vic the night off to go do couple-type things. I figured, hey, of course I can handle two small boys on my own. I am an experience child wrangler from way back. I know these boys. They know me. Nothing can possibly go wrong.

That's just the sort of confidence that begs to be taught the error of its ways, don't you think?

And teach me, it did.

I figured that since it would be the first time Grayson had been left home with me that he might cause a problem or two. Sure, we're great mates, but we've never had to be great mates alone before.

As it turns out, alone would have been infinitely easier.

After the boys had their baths, their parents tootled off to the Casino in the usual manner of new parents leaving both their babies for the first time. That is: Vic waved and went to sit in the car and wait while Em ran back inside half-a-dozen times with further instructions and to kiss her progeny one...last...time.

By the time the garage door did it's extremely rattly automatic closing thing, Grayson was contentedly snoring in his bed. "This cannot last, it is too good to be true," I thought. I was right, but not quite in the way I thought.

Jayden--the child most experienced at hanging out with Andma--figured that this would be just like all the other nights/days/whatever that the two of us have spent together, ie: a party. While he did a remarkably good job of feigning sleep until his parents were gone, as soon as that garage door shut, he sat bolt upright in bed and grinned at me.

Jayden: Hi.
Me: Shhh, Graysie is asleep, shhh.
Jayden: Shhhh.
Me: Yes. Shhh.
Jayden: hahahaha! Up! Cat! Up!
Me: Andma said shhh! Graysie is asleep.
Jayden: Shh. Up! Cat! *gets up and grabs the blinds* *rattles the blinds* *chortles madly*
Me: No! You lie down in bed and go to sleep right now.
Jayden: Cat! Rum! (Rum is the cat in his favorite book. Jayden's not actually a two-year-old alcoholic)
Me: Sleep. *sings a pointless lullaby*
Jayden: *sings what sounds like a raucous rock song*
Me: Argh!

I decided to channel Jo Frost, the Supernanny, and turned away to ignore him and focus my attention on willing Grayson to stay asleep. Luckily, the bath had sapped all the little fella's superpowers and he was oblivious to the one-person-party going on in the cot behind me.

Jayden: *sings* Aaaaaandmaaaaaa. Caaaaaaat! Ruuuuummmmmmm! Bubba up!

Like I hadn't noticed.

Then, the words I have long-since learned to dread.

Jayden: Uh oh. Uh oh. UH OH!

Forget Supernanny, I rolled over in a real big hurry. There sat my small antagonist in a pool of milk. He'd opened the port on his feeding tube and sat there watching while the cot flooded. So, I raced down the hall to the linen closet for fresh sheets. Jayden, helpful as always, made sure I was kept abreast of the situation by hollering, "UH OH UH OH UH OH!" at the top of his voice from his bed. You know, just in case I forgot dairy products were flooding the sleeping quarters.

I ran back with fresh sheets, sat him on his parents' bed beside me while I pulled the mattress out of his bed to clean and put new sheets on. Unfortunately, among other less-than-helpful skills, Jayden has recently learned how to get down from great heights. The bed, for him, is a great height at about one-and-a-half Jayden length's tall. Every time I tried to wrestle the mattress out of the cot, he rolled onto his belly and started sliding down the side of Mount Bed. He'd stop when his armpits hit the edge and his feet still had a mighty long way to go. Then he'd do the logical thing and panic. After the second emergency rescue, I sat him on the floor.

That's when the chortling started and he made for the hallway and freedom.

Suffice to say, by the time I actually got him back in the bed again, one of us was exhausted and it wasn't the right one.

Fast forward to 1am. Grayson was still snoring--a blessing I still can't quite believe--and Jayden was not.

He opened his port several more times, and lay in his bed sucking the milk out instead of letting it flood the place. Which was a very good thing since he'd gone through every sheet we owned by then. If I'd had the energy, I'd have taped the darn thing closed, but he's pretty good with tape too.

I had confiscated Elmo and was holding him hostage, to be returned only after a suitable period of good behavior. Suffice to say, I still have Elmo.

In the end, the small dynamo didn't give up until past 2am. By then, he'd given me his very most* disappointed look and clearly lost all faith in me and my ability to be the fun guy in his life.

His parents came home to find both boys fast asleep in their beds, and me in the middle fast asleep in the parental bed...sideways...cuddling Elmo.

Apparently we looked very sweet and peaceful.

*Never fear, his faith was restored as soon as he saw me this morning. He grabbed his favorite book, hollered, "Cat!" and hurried over to me so I could read it. Which I did. Which I always do. Which is why I can now recite the entire text of Which Witch's Wand Works, including the spells. That, my friends, is exceptional grandparenting, right there.  

A Big Announcement!

My critique partner and dearest friend, Natalie Bahm, has a huge announcement today. Please, go check out her news and congratulate her, then come back here to hear me gush!

I am SO proud of her, and so proud of her wonderful story. I've read and re-read it and I can honestly say, I adore it like it was my own book.

And, yes, the profits for her story do go to Jayden's Fund, and his parents (and me, grandma) are so incredibly grateful to her. Can you even imagine how lucky a person has to be to have a friend like this? Jayden is a very lucky guy to have Natalie in his corner, and I'm luckier still to have her as a friend and crit partner.

PS, I did the black and white illustrations inside, so I can now see something I did on Amazon. :)

The Secret Underground is a middle grade adventure about a girl named Ally who discovers all the boys in her neighborhood are digging a tunnel to an abandoned steel mill.

You can pre-order the eBook on Amazon and Apple.  It will be available at all other online book outlets (Nook, Kobo, Sony, etc.) soon. The print version should be available for pre-order on Amazon in the next few weeks and later this fall you'll be able to walk into to any bookstore and order a copy.

Paint Me a Word Picture

I've been thinking about the things art and writing have in common. The first thing I discovered is that this subject has the potential to turn into a running gag. For instance:

1. They are both things I procrastinate over. 
2. Chocolate makes both of these things better. 
3. Cats like walking over fresh artwork the same as they like standing on your keyboard and typing the letter Z three million times while you're in the bathroom. 
4. You can wear your pajamas to do either and not only do people not think you're nuts, they admire your individuality (or are too scared to argue). 
5. See number 4. but replace pajamas with dreadlocks. 
6. See number 5. but replace dreadlocks with naked. On second thought, don't. 
7. See number 4. but replace wearing dreadlocks with owning many cats. 
8. You get the picture. 

There are more sensible comparisons too. 

1. Good composition = successful end product. In art, this means putting together the elements of your artwork in a pleasing way, generally by using the rules of composition. In writing, this means having a nicely structured plot. 
2. Artists develop an "eye". They notice things in the world that other people miss, like all the colors there are in something that looks white. Writers develop an eye too, and an ear. I've discovered that the artist's eye I already worked so hard to develop comes in handy for writing, and actually, vice-versa. 
3. Talent helps with both, but hard works counts for a whole lot more. Sitting your butt down and practicing and actively learning is the only way to get better. Talent might make you good, it might even make you great, but hard work and practice will always make you better. 
4. Both are fun. 

And so ends my deep thinking for the week. 

You're welcome. 

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