My opinion of social media and the writing community

In my opinion social media is awesome.  Facebook, twitter, blogs, and what have you is a great way to communicate with fellow writers.  I have learned so much from other people and created friendships with people all over the united states.  Over all do I think it helps sales of self publishing?  Not sure.  Does it help authors get out and tell there stories?  Most definitly. 

Buccunear Blog fest Review

Today I am suppose to post a review of a book I am reading.  Well my blog is a continuous review of books I have read and just the other day I discussed The Fear, the book I was reading...so not to be redundant, I am going to refer you back to prior posts. 

On my Bookshelf

Since I primarily read from my kindle it's easy to see my bookshelf!  My husband bought me a kindle because I long ago ran out of room on my shelves and began stacking books on the floor like an old lady with too many cats.  I even donate books and still have too many.  So kindle is my answer to over crowding.  :)  You can look at my book reviews and get a good idea of my taste in books.  I primarily read YA but will throw a good adult book in for good measure.  I love Cassandra Clare and am working my way through the Clockwork Angel series after reading the mortal instruments.  I tend to steer clear of Fantasy only because I find it difficult to visualize a land I have never been.  So I am probubly the only person left on the planet that has not read Harry Potter.  I like books that look at how the world might change, like the Fear book I am finishing, Lockdown, Wool by Hugh Howey, Deliruim by Laura Oliver.  I get really excited when someone takes a new turn on the end of the world or government trying to take over.

What am I reading now?

Right now I am finishing up The Fear: The Enemy is Gathering by Charlie Higson.  He also wrote The Dead.
This book takes place in London after an illness has gone through the country and turned everyone sixteen and older into what the kids call sickos.  A sort of zombie in the sense that they are covered in boils and have limited mental capabilities.  In the first book we follow a group of private school boys into the city after their school is overrun.  Now, in this book we follow a few of the characters as they travel through the city looking for other kids.  It is sort of a Lord of the Flies for the zombie lover.  This book talks a lot about rebuilding and how kids are stepping up to face the new world but also how each has a very different view of how the future will unfold under their leadership. 

Coming up with my characters in Let My Life Be Proof

I wish I could say that I had a wonderful dream that brought my characters to me, but I would be lying. The characters for all my books have been in my head for a long time and now that I have some time I am writing them down.  I think my parents equated it with me being a daydreamer or off in a world of my own and they were right.
My life changing, that's dramatic but it was a light bulb moment, happened when I was watching Merv Griffen.  I know now everyone knows I'm old.  He was the original Ellen.  He had Kirstie Alley on because she was a female Spock in the original Star Trek movie.  Now there is no hiding it, I'm old.  :)  Anyway she said that when she was little she would insert herself into movies and television shows, as a new character.  I sat there and thought, WOW!  I thought I was the only one that did that.  So now that someone else said it was okay to develop my own little story lines I went wild.  In my stories I've starred in Charlies Angels, The Outsiders, The Walking Dead, just to name a few. All my stories stem from something I saw at one time and then developed in my head.  LET MY LIFE BE PROOF began after I watched The Big Red One, then added more when I saw Blackhawk Down, then regenerated it again after I saw Act of Valor and read the Marcu Lutrell story.  I had an entire story line in each of those movies starring ME!  Well I couldn't write those stories because someone else already had...so I began to research the war in Afghanistan and took my character and added her in there to get ta! da! my story. 

Meet the characters! Today is your chance to meet Doogie and Tahk from LET MY LIFE BE PROOF

I have to start by saying how thankful I am that Doogie and Tahk took the time to talk to me.  Thanks guys, I know when you get a break from patrolling you like to rest it means a lot to our readers to get some insight into your lives..

Doogie: Not a problem.  I'm usually working in the hospital when were in base.
Tahk laughs:  Yeah no rest for the weary.

Question 1: So Doogie I know your name was given to you because you basically skipped high school and graduated with a Doctorate at 16.  Have you ever actually seen the show?

Doogie:  No. I'm too young to have seen it.  Besides as you said I've been pretty busy studying and then not a lot of television ops here.

Tahk: But we did upload an episode just so she could see her name sake.
Doogie: Yeah that was fun.  She shakes her head and laughs.  I couldn't believe it was the guy from How I Ment Your Mother.  Now that show I know. 

Question 2: Do you like the nickname?

Doogie:  She smiles and looks at Tahk.  If I liked it they wouldn't call me it.  It's crazy the stupid names they come up with.

Question 3: Tahk you don't have a nickname?

Tahk:  Nope.

Question 3: Being only eighteen has it been hard to be a part of some of the missions you've been on?  Aren't you scared?

Doogie:  Yeah I'm always scared but when it's all happening you get tunnel vision and just do your job.  Besides that's what Tahk's there for.  He's my personal guard.  He's suppose to watch my back.  I'm not that much younger than the boys out here.  I just have more education.  It's hard on all the guys.  We went from High school football games to front lines.

Question 4: Tahk you complain a lot that Doogie takes off and you have a hard time watching her back.  Also do you have a p.g. because you're a girl or does all medics have one?

Doogie interrupts before he can answer:  I go where the men need me it isn't my fault that Tahk isn't paying attention.  All medics have p.g.'s.  They use to wear helmets and vest with big white crosses on them and we were suppose to be off limits in a battle.  We don't wear that anymore.  It was more of a target in this war.

Tahk shakes his head.:  There is always a lot going on and it's difficult to keep track of her.  I complain more to give her a hard time.  She has skills.  She doesn't need me with her every minute.  Although most of the time I know where she is, just not sitting right on top of her.

Question 5: Tahk this one's for you.  You tend to say a lot of suggetive things to Doogie.  Do you have secret feelings for her.

Tahk lets out a huge laugh, holding his stomach:  No.  No!  She's like my little sister.  I just do it to hassle her.
Doogie:  I ignore him most of the time.

Question 6:  So there is implication in the first chapters of the book that your commanding officer has some feelings for you.  What can you tell us about that?

Tahk: Yeah Raven has the hots for me.  What can I say?

Doogie: I think she was talking to me. 

Tahk:  He isn't suppose to have feelings for her.  Tahk gives Doogie a look

Doogie:  Raven and I get close.  But we are in a military situation so finding love not only is difficult in  stressful surroundings but there is the issue of rank as well.  I guess the readers will have to dive in to see if we are able to figure it out.

Tahk:  Not gonna happen.

Doogie shrugs and gives me a wink.
I guess we will have to read the YA Novel Let My Life Be Proof to find out if there love can overcome the barriers of war and rank.

Tahk: Yeah it can't.

I laugh.  Not much of a romantic is he.

Thanks for stopping by!

LET MY LIFE BE PROOF: WIP

As a true author I of course can not just post one of my works.   HA HA so here you go!  My work in progress is called LET MY LIFE BE PROOF

Emme Sawyer is a genius.  Graduating from med school at sixteen and bored with the day to day grind of work, Emme enlists in the Navy at seventeen.  Added to a Marine unit as their medic Emme gets a wake up call as to what the war in Afghanistan is really about.  During the Battle of Marjah Emme sees the implication of war on the locals, loses her best friend, and develops feelings for her commanding officer. 

LET MY LIFE BE PROOF

The quiet of the evening was broken as the fsst of a bullet buzzed by my head, impacting the wall and sending a cloud of dust into my face. 

“Shots fired, left flank,” I yelled as the unit moved to cover me and the wounded man I was tending to.  “It’s okay.  You’re going to be okay.  I’m gonna take care of you,”  I continued to talk as I tied tourniquets tightly around his legs and gave him a shot of morphine.

“You’re a girl,” the soldier groaned.

“I’m a medic.”

BLOG FEST CONTINUES! First paragraphs of YA novel: If You Only Knew

Continuing into the second week of the Buccuneer Blog fest and we are on to giving followers a glimpse of finished novels and Works in Progress.  The following is my completed novel If You Only Knew.  This is the story of a girl who escapes an abusive realationship only to discover no one is  who she thought they were.  Attempting to start over she is thrust into the Native American legend of the Skinwalkers, male witches who want to steel her soul.  With the help of native warriors she begins a fight to not only save herself  but to open herself up to love again

IF YOU ONLY KNEW

The door to my locker was closed tight but a sweet floral scent drifted from the vent. I knew roses sat inside.  Where most girls would swoon at the prospect of flowers, the reason behind these made me shutter.

The conversation with Luke the night before had not gone how I’d wanted.  I just needed space.  Why couldn’t he understand that? He was suffocating me with all his rules.  I reached up, lightly touching my neck. Hidden under my high collar was the bruise from where his hand had pressed firmly against my throat.  A painful reminder that he had not agreed. 

Dust & Decay by Jonathan Maberry

This book is the second in a series, the first being Rot & Ruin.  Dust and Decay begins shortly after the first book and follows our main characters as they decide to leave the santuary of their town and go out into the Ruins to look for a jet they saw at the end of the first book.  The book takes place after a plague or nuclear melt down turns the majority of the world into zombies, or zoms.  The idea of how a society fights to reconstruct laws and acceptable behavior is a strong theme in this book.  Is it okay to live behind your walls and never hope for more.  Paralized by your fear.  The strong character development in these books grabbed me right away and although Benny, a fifteen year old japanese american, and his group of friends lead the story but the older brother Tom is the one that pulls at your heart strings and is the hero of the story.  As far as zombie stories go I recommend this one.

Interview with Tracey Joseph

I had the great opportunity to meet and ask Tracey Joseph some questions.
Tracey is a blogger from New York.
Read away to get to know her!!!
If you want to check out her blog here is the link:
http://traceyjoseph.blogspot.com/

1.  What is your favorite book?  Favorite genres?
It’s kind of hard to name only one, but I recently read Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro and it has definitely become one of my favorites. As for my favorite genres, I’ve always had a soft spot for fantasy and contemporary YA.

2.  Where do your ideas for writing come from?
My ideas for writing come from movies, TV shows, music, and dreams. The idea for my current WIP came to me in a dream. I know this might sound crazy, but I actually heard my main character's voice in my head.

3.  Do you have any books out there that we might like to read?
Yes, yes, yes! I really would love to get my hands on Time Between Us by Tamara Ireland Stone, What’s Left of Me by Kat Zhang, Crewel by Gennifer Albin, Splintered by A.G. Howard, and Thorne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas. I recently read a sample of My Life in Black and White by Natasha Friend, and I loved it.

4.  What inspires you to write?  Do you have a schedule or do you write when you can?
I think I just love to create. I mean, even when I’m not writing I’m daydreaming. As for having a schedule, I don’t. I write when I can.

5.  If you could interview an author for your blog who would you want to interview?
If I could interview any author it would definitely be J.K. Rowling. She’s one of the authors who made me fall in love with reading, and she’s just so inspiring.

6.  Any words of wisdom for others that are working through the writing/publishing process?
Well, I’m still kind of a newbie myself. I’m still learning, but one of the things I do think is important is writing whatever you want to write regardless of trends and enjoying every minute of it because as one of my new favorite quotes says, it’s about the journey as much as the outcome.

Thanks for interviewing me, Connie. Happy writing!

Arrrr! Excited to get to know new bloggers!

Such a Pretty Girl by Laura Wiess

Such a Pretty Girl is the story of a young girl who was sexually abused by her father.  Brave enough to tell, she aids in sending her father to jail.  During the trial it is discovered that her father, who was a teacher and a coach had abused many children in the town.  Meredith's world is once again turned upside down when her father is released early due to good behavior.  Although there is a restraining order on her father, Meredith's mother doesn't see the severity of the abuse and rents an apartment in thier complex.   This story takes the reader through the anger and fear Meredith holds as she struggles to figure out how to stop him from abusing someone else while not sacrificing herself.  Very strong message in this book.

Buccaneer Blogfest!

I am very excited to be a part of this blogfest and look forward to having people read my book reviews as well as getting a chance to find new blogs to follow!
Here is the link if you want to join us!  http://sharonbayliss.blogspot.com/2012/06/buccaneer-blogfest.html

Those of you who are new to my blog I am a Bilingual Second grade teacher, Nationally Board Certified in Early Literacy.  I am also an author of YA books and have a magic realism book coming out soon on Amazon.com.

My blog format is one of book reviews.  Usually I read YA of a wide variety and a few novels thrown in there as I find titles that are either in the news or hidden treasures that I think others should definitly read. My hope is to be able to use my blog for my fellow writers to get their names and titles out there for people to read.  Since ebooks and kindles are huge and many digital titles don't get the notice they should I would like to be a link to the readers. 

The Night Children an Escape from the Furnace Story by Alexander Gordon Smith

This is the third book I have read from Alexander Gordon Smith's Furnace series.  The first being Lockdown.  This story is a prequel.  It takes place in WWII and follows a small unit of men looking for a group that has been lost from their platoon.  While looking for them they discover horrible creatures that live in the forest, the Night Children.  A horrid take on Hansel and Gretel, these children once wondered into the woods and were taken in by a man who carried out experiments on the them.  This book is best not to be read before you read the first books of the series.  It ties together the creatures that are intorduced in those books and lets you know why the prison is ran in the manner it is. It is a suspenseful and creepy read but short so it was a fun beach read. 

Service by Marcus Luttrell

This is the second book from Marcus Luttrell.  The first Lone Survivor was the story of Operation Redwing and how Marcus survived when the mission went very wrong.  This book is the aftermath of that experience.  The book follows Marcus as he goes on a tour in Iraq.  I found this book very intersting and got a lot of insight into not only what our troops are doing but what was going on in Iraq at the time.  I feel very uninformed.  As with the first book, this book left me with a feeling of imense pride for the soldiers that go where no one else wants to in order to make our lives the way they are.  Thank You.

Warm Bodies to hit the theatres in 2013

Just recieved my Entertainment Weekly and discovered they are already in production for the movie version of Warm Bodies.  No well know actors are staring in it but the photo of "R" was intreging.