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Friday, November 29, 2013

Rain and Black Friday

Happy late Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you all stuffed yourselves silly, because that is totally not what I did. My boyfriend and I aren't really the Thanksgiving type of people, meaning neither of us want to cook all that food for two people. But, let me tell you, Denny's makes a pretty awesome pecan pie!

Yesterday didn't matter, though. Today, Friday...This is the best day ever. It's raining (sort of. It was raining harder a few hours ago.), it's Black Friday (I've already bought four books, Frozen Planet is up in a few hours, and I just saw Sherlock is going to be on sale), and if we ever get out of our pajamas, we're going to the aquarium. Vacations really are the best.

Why am I not writing every free moment for NaNo, you ask? Psssh, because I finished on Wednesday. Sure, I didn't finish the story, but there's one more chapter to go before that's all wrapped up. It's terrible, really, it is, but I don't even care. I feel like this is my first NaNo, even though I've been doing it for five years. I guess this is the first one I've done where I've really had no clue where the story was going and what I was doing. It was a lot of fun, but kind of stressful. Still, I've already decided that it's a story that I'd like to revisit, but not right now. Right now, I want to be in pajamas, eat gross and delicious food, and watch TV shows until my eyeballs fall out.

But now that means we're creeping into December. Christmas, another vacation (I love working in the education industry sometimes), and more time to pretend I'm cleaning when I'm really wondering how exactly Rainbow Rowell managed to get me to stay up until one in the morning reading her book (seriously, go grab Fangirl. I would have finished it in a day, but I had to go to stupid sleep). It also means that I have a promise to fulfill: I'm going to start the sequel to All You Left Behind. Sure, it may not seem like a big deal, but it kind of is. I've been away from these characters for months now, only checking in on them to make sure they haven't died. Now I have to throw myself back into their world, and that's scary. What if I don't know how to do it? What if I screw up? What if I make Gunnar into a complete jerk, when he's only really a half jerk? I know I'll have to reread the first book, which is kind of weird, but that's okay. I actually enjoy what I wrote, and now I can really concentrate on all the messy mistakes I made. You know what? Ignore everything I just said. This might be fun.

It's after noon and I'm starving. Sorry, people, food always trumps blog posts!

Monday, November 25, 2013

REMY by Katy Evans




Synopsis:

Underground fighter Remington Tate is a mystery, even to himself. His mind is dark and light, complex and enlightening. At times his actions and moods are carefully measured, and at other, they spin out of control.

Through it all, there's been one constant: wanting, needing, loving, and protecting Brooke Dumas. This is his story, from the first moment he laid eyes on her and knew, without a doubt, she would be the realest thing he's ever had to fight for.


Teaser:

“Pete, you think I need a sports rehab specialist?” I ask.
“No, Rem.”
“Why not?”
“You’re an asshole, dude. You hardly let the masseuses massage you for more than twenty minutes.”
“I need one now.” Pushing my iPad over to him, I tap the screen and signal to the name below her image. “I need that one.”
Pete lifts an interested eyebrow. “You do. Do you?”
“I need a sports rehab specialist on my payroll. I want her to tend to me every day. In whatever ways they do.”
He smirks. “They don’t do blow jobs, I’ll tell you that.”
“If I wanted a blow job, I could have had three just now. What I want . . .” Once again, my finger taps over her name. “Is this sports rehab specialist.”
Pete’s eyebrows fly up to his hairline, and he leans back and crosses his arms. “What exactly do you want her for?”
I chomp down the rest of my food, then take a long gulp of water so I can speak. “I want her for me.”
“Rem . . .” he says in warning.
“Offer her a salary she can’t decline.”
Pete answers me with a puzzled silence. He seems taken aback and is trying to make sense of me. He’s looking into my eyes, and I can tell he’s observing whether they are black or blue.
I’m not black. So I wait quietly. He sighs, slowly jots down her name, and speaks cautiously. “All right, Remington, but let me say, this has Bad Idea written all over it.”
Shoving my plate aside, I lean back and cross my arms.
My head betrays me half the time. One day, it tells me I am god. The other, it tells me that I not only rule hell, but I invented it. Does Pete think I give one fuck about what his own head thinks about my idea? I don’t listen to my head anymore. I listen only to my gut.
“I want her watching me fight Saturday,” I remind him as I get up and shove my chair back under the table. And I want her watching from the bet seats in the house.”
“Remington . . .”
 “Just do it, Pete,” I say as I cross the living room back to the master.
“I already have the tickets ready to go, dude, but it’s hard enough keeping Diane from knowing of your . . . er, issues . . . It’s going to be even harder to keep it from someone like this sports rehab specialist.”
I prop my shoulder at the threshold of my bedroom and think about that. I lower my voice. “Make her sign a contract, so I have guaranteed time with her. And stabilize me the instant I start losing my shit.”
“Remington, just let me get some other girls—”
“No, Pete. No other girls.”
I shut myself in my room and grab my headphones, then just lie there with my iPod in my hand, staring at it.
What will it be like if I make her mine?
I don’t delude myself into thinking that she will accept me, but what if she does? What if she can understand me? The way I am? The two parts of me? No. Not two parts. Every. Single. Fucking. Part. Of me.
My gut tightens as I remember the way her eyes shone when she looked at me. The way they softened after I kissed her and she looked into my eyes, wanting more of me.
I have never seen a look quite like that before. I have been wanted by thousands of women. Nobody has ever looked at me with such open, frightened longing as her.
She was not frightened of me. She was frightened of “it.” This same thing clenching my gut that has me all tangled up. Every cell in my body is buzzing with awareness. Every inch of my skin is awake. My muscles feel primed like they do when I’m ready to fight. Except I’m not ready to fight now. I’m ready to go get my mate.
God help her.

About Katy Evans

Hey! I’m Katy Evans and I love family, books, life, and love. I’m married with two children and three dogs and spend my time baking, walking, writing, reading, and taking care of my family. Thank you for spending your time with me and picking up my story. I hope you had an amazing time with it, like I did. If you’d like to know more about books in progress, look me up on the Internet, I’d love to hear from you!

Saturday, November 23, 2013

Schedule...Ha!

Wow. After that spectacular return to normalcy on Monday, you'd think I would have kept it up, right? 

Riiiiight.

Well, now it's Saturday and The Day of the Doctor is upon us. Which means I should still be sleeping and only waking to Starbucks and some delicious lunch around 11. Sometimes I really adore not having kids. But I'm up now, so I thought I'd write something down quick before I go write, because I figured I'd do something responsible today.

I'm almost done with NaNo! And I don't mean that in the sense that November is almost over. I've been at about 41,000 words for the last two days, so I just have to power through it. But this is my problem with every story I write. I reach the end and then...Zap. Something strange happens. I rush. I stumble over words. Even though there's a millions billions things I want to write about with only a couple thousand words left, I barely make it over the 50,000 mark. Sigh. But not this year. This year, I'm going to work my butt off and actually finish it, not just make it to the winner's circle and then stop.

But that means I have to get off this thing and start writing. Even though the bed is so warm. And I'm still kind of sleepy. Blame the boyfriend. He got a billion new gaming systems (or two, whatever) and it's a law that we must spend hours playinh with them. Hey, I don't want to get arrested, so I just played my part.

Okay, I'm officially loopy. Perfect Doctor Who state of mind.

Monday, November 18, 2013

Back on Track! Kinda...

I had every intention this weekend to wake up bright and early Monday morning so I could get some housework done, as well as put up a post since it's been kind of weird the last few weeks. Well, I guess I can't even remember that it's Monday, because it just hit me now what I forgot to do!

Not like much has been going on. I've been doing well with NaNo, I guess. Yes, I didn't put up the word counter, but because the one I wanted wasn't working nicely with me, so I skipped it. I'm at 37,000 words, and I just realized that it's only November 18th. But I can't let that get in my head. Every year, I pull far ahead, so I can have a day or so break. Then I kind of forget about things and are scrambling to make up for lost words at the end. I've been trying to write every day, but as the holidays close in on us, I find myself thinking more and more about turkeys and stuffing and presents and trees that I have very little room left over in my brain for words. But I think I might get an entire week off for Thanksgiving break (fingers crossed!) and that will help me pull through for the win, so yay!

Unless you've been living under a rock (or maybe you're just not into this sort of thing), you know that the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who is coming up this weekend. My boyfriend is doing the Pearl Jam thing with his sister, so that means I'm free to curl up on his couch with my TARDIS blanket and watch the whole thing by myself! Well, he'll be around, since it's the morning, but it sounded more dramatic that way. Anyway, I'm super excited for it and I hope everyone else is too! That might be one day I take off from writing, because I'm not sure I'll be able to function properly after that. I watched the Night of the Doctor short and freaked out for about two hours before I conked out and went to sleep. I'm not very good at this fangirling thing.

Anyway, I guess this is just going to be a short write up since it's nine in the evening and I still have to clean my kitchen from dinner. I love cooking, I found that out recently, but I hate the clean up.

Oh, two quick notes! I hope you guys enjoyed the promo for Mine, because it's time for round two! (If a certain someone is reading this, I hope you laughed as much as I did writing that)The Remy tour is happening, beginning later this week. I'm up on Monday, so expect some more hotness from Katy Evans. Also, my sister finished reading my book last week and has sparked some excitement in me to write the second one. I've checked how I feel about things (it's a very rigorous process) and I'm shooting for a start time of around Christmas break. I get so much time off for that holiday and I need to distract myself from not getting paid, so I'm going to throw myself into that story. I'm getting back into that mode of wondering what my characters are doing, so I'll keep you posted with that development, as well.

Sorry for the lateness. I'll do better next time. I promise.

Thursday, November 14, 2013

MINE by Katy Evans


Oh my gosh, I am so super excited for today's post! I get the awesome privilege to promote MINE by Katy Evans! First off, if you haven't read her awesome debut novel REAL, go get it right now!


Synopsis 

“I will do anything to make her MINE.” —Remington Tate 

In the international bestseller REAL, the unstoppable bad boy of the Underground fighting circuit finally met his match. Hired to keep him in prime condition, Brooke Dumas unleashed a primal desire in Remington “Remy” Tate as vital as the air he breathes . . . and now he can’t live without her.

Brooke never imagined she would end up with the man who is every woman’s dream, but not all dreams end happily ever after, and just when they need each other the most, Brooke is torn away from the ringside. Now with distance and darkness between them, the only thing left is to fight for the love of the man she calls MINE.
 


Excerpt


I’ve only spent the night with one man in my entire life. I love bumping into his muscles while we sleep. I love how the sheets smell of him, of us, and how his shoulders have become my favorite pillow, even though they’re hard as hell and I can’t understand why I like sleeping on them, but I do. They come with his arm around my waist and his scent, and his heat, and I love it all, every bit of it. Especially when he ducks his head to tuck his nose into my neck, and I bury mine into his.

The problem is that his side of the bed seems to eject him exactly at ten in the morning, and my side seems to have no eject button.

Today I feel like a dead weight, while I can tell he’s not even in the room.

The air is different when he’s not near. He charges it when he’s nearby, like a slow, powerful vibration around me that makes me hyper-alert and feel both safe and excited.

I’ve really fallen for him.

Six months ago, I wanted a one night stand less, to have a little fun after dedicating my years to my career. Instead…I get him.

Unpredictable, infuriating, sexy him…the man everyone lusts after and I didn’t want to. I ended up not only lusting after him, but falling face-first in love with him. And now, loving him is the most exhilarating rollercoaster I’ve ever ridden in my life.

Sitting up on the bed, I rub my eyes to shield from the streaming sunlight and wish I had  Red Bull and Monster running through my veins like Remy does. We hardly slept doing our favorite sexy stuff, and he’s already raring to go. I even see his suitcase by the door, ready for us to leave for the next tour location, while I still need to pack.

Squinting again as I slide out of bed, I go to the small closet to find something to wear when I spot the letter on his nightstand next to his iPhone—which he rarely even powers on except for music-hearing purposes. The sight of my letter brings a rush of awful memories to me, and I have to quell the urge to grab it, tear it, and flush the pieces down the toilet.

But Remington would be so mad. He treasures that stupid letter I’d left him when I left.

Because in it, I tell him what nobody had ever told him before.

I love you, Remy.

My legs start shaking, and I close my eyes and tell myself I’m not perfect. I’ve never been taught to do this. I never dreamed of love, a partner…I dreamed of sports and the latest running shoes. Not of spiky black hair and blue eyes. I’m trying to learn. To be the woman a man like him deserves. And I want to spend the rest of my life showing Remy that I deserve him, and the rest of my days making sure he takes back what he lost because of me. If anyone, in this world, deserves to be a champion—it’s him.

“He’s a pussy, just relax,” I hear his gruff, manly voice outside the master bedroom.

I laugh at my own body’s response to hearing Remington say “pussy”—my womb clenches and I feel instantly a little warm. Whore.

Grinning, I search through the closet through his stuff, then have to go to his suitcase. I know that he likes it when I wear his things. I think it makes him feel like I’m his property, and it’s insane how much I like to pick on his alpha tendencies. When he’s blue-eyed, he’s possessive, but when he’s black, he’s downright territorial.

It delights me when he gets all growly you’re-mine and it delights him when I wear his stuff.
So this morning, why not the both of us be delighted? I take his riptide boxing robe and slip it on, then I hurry into the bathroom, brush my teeth and wash my face, wrap my hair in a ponytail, and pad outside. 

About Katy Evans

Hey! I’m Katy Evans and I love family, books, life, and love. I’m married with two children and three dogs and spend my time baking, walking, writing, reading, and taking care of my family. Thank you for spending your time with me and picking up my story. I hope you had an amazing time with it, like I did. If you’d like to know more about books in progress, look me up on the Internet, I’d love to hear from you!



And where do you buy these hot piece of book? Just look below...

Friday, November 8, 2013

NaNo Updates With A Side of Sickeness

We're eight day into NaNo, and after starting already behind, I'm happy to say that I'm two days ahead now. Yay, right? Yes and no. I'm glad that I'm two days ahead, and not because that means I can slack off for a little while, but because this story is actually progressing. It's weird to have an idea where you're going, but you're also following a path that makes no sense. That's how this story is going. I know the end, I know certain parts of it, but the rest, as they say, is a mystery.

I'm going to let you in on a super secret. The way I map out my stories. It's very scientific and incredibly hard to do. I buy a bunch of index cards, write down the scenes I know I want in the story, and then I lay them out on the floor to see everything in one place. Finally, I place them where I want them to go and then write it out.

Extremely scientific, like I said.

Sometimes, I'll stick right to what the index cards say, because I've mapped out the entire story, from the smallest conflict to the largest battles. But this NaNo story...Hm. I wrote out maybe about a dozen note cards, and I've written way more than that already. It's strange for me to have something so unplanned, but flow so well. Hopefully I can keep it up through the weekend and then for the rest of the month.

But what about the second part of this post's title, Bree? Yeah, I forgot it was November and that means a thousand children are sick. Why is that kids feel the need to share everything, including their colds? One of the little girls at my tutoring center told me she was sick...by sticking her face an inch from mine and whispering this non-secret right in my face. I was kind of hoping that it would be one of those lucky times when I didn't get sick, but then I woke up the next day with a sore throat and death written on my forehead. This is day two of the cold, and it's getting better, but I'm going to take a vow of silence for the day. I think my throat will thank me for that.

The good thing about being sick is that I should have nothing else to do but write, correct? Yeah, that's not my life! I have work and then another concert tonight (last night's was...strange), and I'm not going to let the cold ruin my weekend. If my boyfriend can go to Dethklok almost dead (which is kind of appropriate for that concert, really), then I can repay the favor and go to Nine Inch Nails with a little cold.

I'm just dramatic when it comes to being sick, and I'm sure my boyfriend doesn't want to hear it anymore.

And I know I said the whole thing about the writing meter popping up on the website this week, but it's been busy. What a terrible excuse, but really. This weekend, I'm hoping to sit down for a little while and go over this blog, because I'm feeling ready for something different. Also, I have to pretty it all up for next Thursday. Next Thursday, Bree? What's next Thursday?

It's November 14th, the day I get to promote Mine by Katy Evans!

I'm sure I've mentioned it before (*wink, wink*), so get your butts over here if you want to learn about an amazing read. Again, though, this series is not for the faint of heart. You have to be willing to read about an incredibly sexy man who is the king of all men and does whatever he can for the love of his life.

Such a tough read.

So come by next week! It'll be fun, I promise!

Monday, November 4, 2013

Internet Exile is Over!

Okay, it wasn't exactly exile, but it sure felt like it. Did I say that moving sucked? Because it does. And more! I had to turn off my internet service at my old apartment last Wednesday, and so I've been surviving off my 4G phone since then. I thought I'd have internet on Friday, but that was when I thought I'd be moved in before nine in the morning and have a few minutes before we went off to the Oval Nationals. The best laid plans, right? But the super nice guy from Time Warner came out today and set it all up, and I'm proud to say that I set up my wireless all by myself! (Well, with a little help from my boyfriend and YouTube) I should have written this earlier, but I may have been a tad overexcited at having internet again and went nuts until I had to leave for work. Better late than never!

NaNo started on Friday! I'd love to say that I have my plot all laid out and that my characters are behaving wonderfully. I'm only about 6,000 words into it, and I'm kind of proud to say that I have no idea what I'm doing. This story is kind of a mess, but a beautiful one. I have an idea of where I'd like to go, and the bits and pieces are there, but I really have no clue on how to meat it out. And isn't that the point of NaNo, really? To get something down and make it to 50,000 words? This is the first year that I didn't spend hours on my plot holes, my characters' personalities, the fabulous settings. I'm completely winging it this year, with only the barest outline to go by. It's kind of terrifying, kind of exciting, and kind of awesome. I'm really feeling like a true NaNo-er right now, and it's about time, too!

Ah. Obviously, with all this moving and no internet nonsense, that means AYLB has not been updated. Yes, I'm a terrible book parent, but I'm getting there! Let me enjoy the silence of my new apartment and the fact that I can do whatever I please here. That means I can watch stupid dramas at high volumes without the worry of being judged by anyone. Like I worried about that before, really.  But now I get to laugh and cry with the rest of the characters and not have my dad look at my like I've gone insane.

But I do have some more writing to get done, so I better hop to it. I started late this year, because moving takes a lot out of a person. So I have to catch up and get ahead, so that I can do what I do every year: take a few days off and not have to worry about making the quota (especially around the 22nd and 23rd...Really, who decided that Catching Fire and Doctor Who should happen on the same weekend?). I'll put a new and improved NaNo writing bar up in the next few days, and I'd love to hear about anyone else doing NaNo, too! NaNo buddies!

And not the ones that I already have, because they don't talk to me. Rude.