How I feel when I write a novel ...

Some people ask me: What is it like to be a writer? What does it feel like writing a novel?

Well, there's a lot of heart and soul that goes into writing a book. And sometimes, you lose yourself a little bit in the characters and the story and the drama.

So what does it feel like to write a novel? A little bit of everything. The proof is in the video.

Happy reading and writing!

Excerpt: Girl Nevermore

Purchase your copy on Amazon

Girl Nevermore is my dark contemporary young adult novel based on real life events. When I was much younger, my best friend at the time tried to take her own life while sitting next to me in class. She went to the bathroom with the pass that hung by the door, was gone for a while, and came back a completely different person.

She slowly started fading away as she sat next to me.

The image of her eyes haunted me for almost a decade, and I still remember the look she gave me to this day, but I've grown up a lot since then. While the helplessness I felt in that moment used to cause me anxiety, I've realized I'm much stronger now and much more sympathetic because of it.

Thankfully, my friend is still alive, but some people do not get second chances like she did. I've lost a lot of people - a lot of good people - along the way, and I cannot imagine how it would have been to lose her in that moment.

Girl Nevermore's story grew from that single moment, and the thoughts and feelings that I had after. I never truly grasped how much it affected me until later on in life. But events like that change you.

If you are in the mood for a dark story, Cooper's journey is full of life lessons, things that took me a lot longer than her to realize. Today, I am sharing a small piece of Girl Nevermore with you. Cooper finds the journal that her twin sister, Kayla, had been keeping. Over the course of the book, she reads her sister's writing. Kayla never seemed so alive, and then ... Well, I'll let you read to find out the rest. Enjoy the excerpt from Kayla's found journal below:

We pulled into the park, stealing drinks from the flask he keeps in his glove compartment. We leaned against the side of his car, passing it back and forth, him taking bigger gulps than me.

When the sprinklers came on, I was already a little light-headed, feeling freer than I had in a long time. I kicked off my shoes and ran into the grass barefoot, laughing as water soaked through my jeans, my shirt, everything. The grass squelched between my toes, and I watched him watching me. His dark eyes never left my body.

It felt blissful, perfect.

Trent and I don’t talk much. There’s not much to say. We just are. We’re two different people who are from separate parts of the universe. But when we collide, our worlds smash together with such fire I can barely breathe. I want to take the feeling he gives me and bottle it up, keep it for whenever I need it.

This kind of perfection never lasts a lifetime. I’m not stupid. But that’s why I’m soaking it all in. I take every chance I can get with him to make up for all the insignificant moments that will happen later. Because as long as I live, I will never meet anyone who makes me feel as alive as Trent does now.

I spun around in the middle of the field until the stars collapsed in on themselves, blending together into one blurring ball of light. I wanted to kiss that sky, get sucked up into it and dance forever.

When I stopped, the world kept moving around me. Trent marched right through the sprinklers, dropped the flask in the field, and wrapped his arms around me. He kissed me with such an intensity I thought I would melt right into his skin.

That’s how he makes me feel, like I could become something bigger than myself. I’ve never felt that kind of power before. I grinned the whole way home, wondering how I got so lucky, but also wondering how I was going to keep this a secret.

Because I want Trent to be mine and just mine. I don’t want to share any of these moments with anyone else. They are too beautiful, too enormous. And I’m afraid if I tell someone, they might become a little bit smaller, and that would ruin the magic we have now.

Rioss

I'm now up to 18,000 words, and I'm still pantsing.  I outlined the very beginning of the novel, but honestly, I have no idea what's going to happen in the middle.  The characters keep surprising me, which I am thankful for, since they won't allow me just to write the main plot.  They keep introducing side stories and sub characters, and unsuspected villains... etc.

As far as #WIP500 is concerned, it's going well.  I've written at least 500 words every day, including 2,000 yesterday.  I know it is only one week in, but I feel like I'm being held accountable by some mythical internet beings (and Cara Michaels).

* * * Rioss Excerpt * * *


Marc’s hair was plastered against his forehead, caked on by a mixture of sweat and a thin layer of grime. He had just showered yesterday. In fact, all of him looked so much more alive yesterday. He had a blush that was spread across his face, tone in his skin, and all of that was gone. One day with the guards had stripped him of anything that made him look alive. He walked up to us, but walked was the wrong word. He limped? His whole body looked rigid, as if he lacked the very essence of movement.

Trixy and I exchanged a glance. Concern welled in her eyes. I didn’t know what to make of it - what had happened to make him look so bad in just one day?

He collapsed in the seat next to me. His body trembled slightly as the air around him turned cold, or was he just that cold?

“What did they do to you?” I said under my breath, as if we were being watched. I tried to ignore the other patients' eyes on us, there were no guards, no orderlies, no reason to be paranoid, but I was. This wasn’t supposed to happen to people - even if people made me feel the way Marc did. Though, sitting next to him now, there was no threat. All of my body stopped being on edge, and I was actually worried about him.

“They wanted me to eat,” Marc said. He flopped his head down on the table and grumbled some more words into the plastic.

Trixy arched an eyebrow at me, “Isn’t that usually supposed to make people feel better?”

Marc coughed, his whole body heaved and shook with it. He used his arms to prop his head up. It looked like it was taking all of his strength just to lift his head off the table. He looked at Trixy with the same sideways smile that he always had. “I told them it wouldn’t work.” His eyes glazed over.  He was distant, lost. “That’s not the way I eat. They put an IV in my arm.” He showed us the crook of his elbow, a deep, red and black bruise had spread throughout the area. It looked like a rash from allergies.

“What are you talking about?” I hissed.

He opened his mouth to answer me, but before he could get any words out, black and red bile spewed from his mouth. The bloody liquid spread across the table and leaked in large drips onto the floor.

Monthly Book Recommendations

Happy New Year!  If you are anything like me, you are probably feeling a little under the weather this morning.  Though I don't party like I used to (college is only two and a half years behind me, but it seems like a lifetime ago), I do love the beginning of another year!  A few glasses of wine or champagne, and I can celebrate a new year with my beloved husband.  We go into part two of our first year as a married couple - and it has been brilliant so far.

We have arguments, sure.  And sometimes, for an outsider looking in, you might think "What on earth are they doing together?!"  But five seconds later, you blink and you miss it, we're back at our best.  You think, "There is no one better suited to be together."  That argument that seemed to last a lifetime was no longer than five minutes.

And most of the moments we spend together?  Perfect.  In every way.  I even love the arguments, because they prove that we still have our own opinions and thoughts - we were not put on this earth just to please each other, but to push each other to be our best.  And that's what he makes me, he pushes me to be my best.

But enough kind words for the man in my life, here's what you all were waiting for!   
The monthly recommendations:

Human.4 by Mike A. Lancaster
YA Science Fiction

You are now obsolete.  Everyone else has been upgraded, save our main character and a handle of other people.  Kyle has been left behind.  Mike Lancaster paints the story as a teenager would, giving the key details, but leaves out a massive amount of description, but he gives us enough.  It is a fast paced book that flies by.  It's a simpler story with a straightforward plot - but it is very interesting nonetheless.  I like it, and describe it as another "snack read."  At the end, I was satisfied, but I wanted a bit more from Kyle's story.  There is apparently, according to Goodreads, a book titled 1.4 coming out in January.  I don't see how this novel could have a sequel, but I would still be interested in reading it.

Dearly, Departed by Lia Habel
YA Sci-Fi

Guys... you must.  This book.  This.  It is one of the best YA romances I've read in awhile - and it has zombies!  ZOMBIES!  The fact that our beloved main character, Nora, takes a good half the book to really fall in love with Bram, it makes it that much more touching.  It is believable, even though he's totally and completely dead.  And Habel takes some liberties with story telling, every chapter is from a different character's point of view.  And it is done quite flawlessly.  Her use of Victorian language, the style of prose, all of it is pretty incredible.  This is a bit of a harder read for YA, which is why I think it is a great crossover book (or it at least has cross over appeal).


Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
YA Fantasy (on the cusp of Urban Fantasy - but it's more Fantasy)
When this book was coming to an end, for some reason, I really wanted it to stand entirely alone.  I think Taylor did such a good job at sucking me into the main character that I wanted to have her story wrap up at the end.  I know there's so much more that she can go into, and I will definitely pick the next book up - but I still wanted the ending to be "good" for our main character, instead of being a bit more ambiguous.  With that being said, Taylor does well with description.  The end gets a little heavy handed with telling instead of showing - but the rest of the novel is beautifully woven.  Because of this, I do recommend it.  I wrote a full review on my examiner.com page.