So I'm going to jump on the Friday Five bandwagon, because I like short rambling things and I like rambling shortly even better. So look for this on occasional Fridays...

So I KNOW you guys haven’t seen my cover yet (I’m working on changing this, REALLY! I'm not trying to torment anyhow, I've just been waiting on info I need for the big reveal. Speaking of which, you've seen the new book description on my homepage right?). But I have been in touch with the amazing photographer/model who graces the cover. Yup, it’s the same person and can I just say that this guy is just too talented for words? You’ll agree when you see this thing of beauty. Anyhow, watch this space closer to my release date for an interview with him as well.
Having sold a book (or two!) is the greatest thing in the world, but that doesn’t mean you can just stop writing (although seriously, it’s easy for the marketing end of things to take over ALL your time). So I’ve been polishing a new manuscript that is very, very special to me. And this process REALLY makes me appreciate my amazing crit partners and beta readers. Every book seems to gather a different group of people who champion it along the way so I just want to give a quick shout-out to a very non-inclusive list: Beth Hull, Stephanie Cardel, Susan Gray Foster, and Carmen Erickson for allowing me to send them questions at all hours of the day and for falling in love with these particular characters.
Next weekend is the SCBWI-MidSouth conference and it’s always a time of friendship and learning and all things bookish. This year Jay Asher, Author of 13 Reasons Why is our keynote speaker and can I just say that I am STOKED to hear him speak? There, I’ve said it.
I’m part of the awesome group of 2014 debut authors known as OneFourKidLit and I look forward to getting to know some of these amazing writers better as we all near our pub dates. Sometimes release dates for books get moved (usually later, but sometimes earlier) and Dawn Klehr had her release, THE CUTTING ROOM FLOOR yanked into 2013 for a release next month! I’m really excited to read this book and I’m going to be posting an interview with Dawn as well as a chance for you to win a copy of her book so STAY TUNED!
Anyone who knows me, knows that I’m a music junkie and I’m always looking for new stuff that really speaks to me. Also, I’m always looking for new music for my playlists. Everything I write seems to have one or two songs that are just THE songs for that manuscript. It isn’t always the lyrics, sometimes it’s just the mood or a line or a series of notes. And my newest thing, which I’ll probably refer to as The-Slowest-Thing-I’ve-Ever-Written because it is, has the following song at its core because it has a secondary but pivotal character who learns a lot about himself in the course of the story and who has to make a “very hard decision” (said in a very Eeyore-type voice). Anyhow, this song always stops me in my tracks so I try to avoid listening to it while I’m driving.

http://youtu.be/a6eR-Okd2t4