Nichole Giles's Blog, page 14

When You Reach…

For something you want,you might actually get it.
For someone you love, they might hold you.
For someone in need, you might help them.
For someone you need, they might help you.
For something more, it might be enough.
For something less, it might fall short.
For something different, different will seek you out.
For things unknown, you might grab something great.Or possibly something terrible. Or a lesson you didn’t know you needed.Or all of the above.
When you reach high enough, there will always be something, or someone to grasp.
But you have to be brave enough to reach.
What are you reaching for right now? 
**Last day to sign up for Operation Bookmark Share and enter to win!

Playing the What If Game

**It’s not too late to sign up for the Operation Bookmark Share contest. See this post for details.
If you’ve been reading my posts regularly, or heck, even sporadically, you probably know what a crazy eventful year I’ve had. I’ve posted about a lot of ups, and tried to stay away from posting about the downs (because we all know they exist—I just choose not to focus on them). And it’s cool. So cool, because so many of our events have been such great, wonderful news.
And yet, no matter how many wonderful things have come my way, all of these things have come with a bag, or a bucket, or a moving truck full of uncertainty. And we all know what comes—free of charge—with uncertainty. That naughty bad word—FEAR.
Despite last week’s post about conquering my fear of falling, and all my talk about being brave and blah, blah, blah, I think this year will forever be labeled as my year of fear.  This is the year when I play the What If game every. Single. Day.
What if this happens? Or what if this doesn’t happen? Or what if we try this? Or what if this works? What if it doesn’t? What if we move our family 1500 miles away and hate it? What if we move our family 1500 miles away and love it? What if my book does well? What if it doesn’t? What if my agent and I sell the one on submission? What if we don’t? What if my family can’t find a place to live? What if we do? What if I finish another manuscript? What if I don’t have time because of all of the above?
You get it, right?
I do this way too much lately. I think it’s one of the hazards of being a writer. Everything. Everything becomes an issue of what if. Everything becomes story material or plot fodder, or character builders.
I don’t have the answers to all my what if questions right now. But I do know one thing. Next year, when some of my recent things have passed, I’m going to have a HECK of a lot of story material.
What if…
My experiences could someday make me money. Or at least give me something to write about.
Yeah. Exactly.

Operation Bookmark Share! (Otherwise known as the first ever DESCENDANT contest.)

Okay people, I promised you a contest, and here we go!

A couple weeks ago, a box showed up at my door. Not a large box, mind, but a box with very awesome things inside.

Yes, that's right. My very first order of Descendant bookmarks.

*squee*

What do you think? Pretty, yes?


They are the first of a few fun swag products I've ordered, and unfortunately, the only fun things to have arrived so far. But it's cool, because they lead in to my first contest.

In the interest in spreading the word about my book, I'm asking interested people to send me your name and mailing address (which I promise I will never use for anything other than the purposes of this contest) and your idea of a great location for where you are WILLING and able to drop a stack of Descendant bookmarks. It can be a library, a bookstore (with permission), a school where you work or teach--anywhere where you know there are people who read young adult literature.Heck, if you want to hand them out at a family reunion, or give them away on your blog--I'm cool with that. Be creative, but also be honest. Please don't accept this challenge and then throw the bookmarks away. I did have to buy them, after all.

The best part of this contest? Everyone wins. Yes, you read that right. EVERY single person who fills out the form below will receive (along with the giveaway stack) a numbered, signed bookmark from me. Also, once I mail said bookmarks, I will enter all your names into a random generator. One lucky winner will be the first to receive a free ebook copy of Descendant (when I have it to send). I'll leave this open from now until Friday, March 29th so that I'll have the weekend to package the stacks and hopefully send them on Monday, April 1st.

Sound good? Cool. Thanks for your help!

Don't forget to fill out THIS FORM so I can send YOU a stack of bookmarks.

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Conquering the Fall

Have I ever told you all about my fear of falling? No? Hm. Seems like we’ve talked about jumping off of cliffs and stuff before, which is scary to me, but not quite as scary as shooting straight down into a tank of hammerhead sharks. Which I did recently.
It was ridiculously scary. I don’t think I’ve screamed that loud in, well, maybe ever. And I still can’t decide if not seeing the sharks because my eyes were closed is a loss or not. Because I came out with water in my brain, but otherwise alive.  I conquered my fear and did that freakishly scary thing which I will probably never try again. Because seriously, I am too young to have a heart attack.
This is what I did. Leap of Faith
Atlanatis, Paradise Island (aka Nassau) Bahamas
Yes, it is as scary as it looks.
No, that is not me in the picture, and one does not exist. The experience exists now…only in my memory. *cue Titanic flashback* 
It's called the Leap of Faith, which I found appropriate, given the twists and turns my life has taken this year. I took the leap and checked this task off my bucket list. Now it’s your turn. What scary thing have you been up to?
**Note: If you’re looking for a contest, I haven’t forgotten! Check back on Monday for the first of several exclusive giveaways.   

Elusive things and Infinity

I’m back! After several months of my brain rolling around at about 50% past capacity, turning it off for a week was a much-needed, long overdue occasion. 
While I was gone, I had the opportunity to stand on a balcony and gaze over the ever-moving, ever-changing ocean. I’ve always wanted to see a whale in the wild. Always. In my small mind, I keep thinking that one of these days I’m going to be in the right place at the right time and an enormous whale is going to pop up and show itself to me, posing while I snap postcard-quality pictures with my conveniently present camera. I’ve held onto this hope for years, and though I’ve crossed the ocean a number of times (and been near it, on it, close to it, etc.) I still haven’t been in that perfect place and time. Yet.
I’ve seen dolphins, sea turtles, flying fish, and crabs. Pelicans, cranes, and a bazillion other cool birds. I’ve seen alligators, too. But no whale.
It’s like this elusive thing that I just can’t reach.
But as I watched the water stretch out in all directions, broken by nothing but the horizon, I realized something. The ocean is freaking VAST. It’s infinite. There are places where it’s so deep it can’t even be measured. And no matter how many whales live in it, the chances of me being in the right spot to see one are slim. There is just so much space and one single whale is such a small thing comparatively. I mean, yes, I understand that there are known places to go whale-watching. But even then there’s no guarantee. It’s still about timing. And that timing isn’t just up to me.
But I know that if I keep looking, one day I’ll get to see my whale. And if I don’t, at least I’ll know I never gave up trying.
I think that’s true with a lot of our life goals. The world is vast. In many ways it’s infinite. Dreams are sometimes elusive things that feel out of reach. But we will never know how infinite we are until we unfurl our sails and make for the horizon.  
Maybe we’ll find a whale, and maybe we won’t. Maybe we’ll find something else entirely. Like, I don’t know, a new continent that will be lauded as the promised land and named after us. The point is we have opportunities and choices and chances. Enough to fill an entire ocean. It’s up to us to decide if we have the courage to sail.
What is something you’ve always wanted to see/do/try? 

Waving from Afar

Hello there!

Remember the spring break vacation I mentioned last week? Well, it's here, and I'm on it. By the time this posts, I'll be somewhere far in the Caribbean soaking up the sun and refilling my well of inspiration in order to write more books. And more books. And...you get it. Right?

Anyway, please accept this snapshot in place of a real blog post. I'll be back next Wednesday. Expect contests. And updates. And other fun posts.

Have a great week!

Let IT Begin

And by IT, I mean launch prep.
So a few things I feel I should make public. First, I hope all my friends who are not writers (and even those who are) will forgive me for any promotional efforts that might feel excessive or over the top. I promise I will do my best to not over do it, but I think everyone has a different threshold of tolerance. I hope I don't cross yours. (But I promise not every post will be about me and/or my book. Most won't, so please do keep coming back.)
Also, be prepared for an unusual number of contests, excerpts, and mentions of reviews, etc, because that is what writers do when their first book is released. And their second. Maybe even the third. Okay, let’s face it. We do it for all of them until we become well enough known that our work promotes itself. Yeah.
Now, this is where I could use your help. 
I’d like to hear about your favorite unique promotion for a book or product. For instance, Bree Despain gave away custom nail polish that matched the covers of The Dark Divine series. Elana Johnson gave away a limited number of exclusive custom art pieces by the talented Dustin Hansen when she released Surrender.
Those are two of my favorites. Now I’d like to hear yours.
And, um, if you share an idea (not T-shirts, bookmarks, or posters) and I do something similar, you will receive the first of that type of prize for helping me out. No drawing. No tweeting or sharing or anything else required. Deal? Okay.
And…GO!

Spring Things

I don’t know about you, but I’m really quite relieved to say goodbye to February and usher in March. It’s like the light at the end of the long winter tunnel. Also, this spring I am looking forward to lots of things. Spring THINGS!
Like my cover reveal. Because I’ve been waiting to show that off for weeks and weeks, and now I finally can!
And blog tour and book launch planning, searching for contest prizes, stuff like that. Because I like to give things away, and I am ridiculously excited about the release of DESCENDANT and can’t wait to share it with the world.
And like spring break. Wherein we take our kids and drive a few hours to Galveston, TX, where there is a cruise port, and we board a ginormous ship and leave all our troubles behind for a week. (Yes, it’s a Carnival Ship, YES, we were scheduled to sail on the Triumph and had to change our reservation, and no, we are not nervous to sail on the Magic, because we’ve cruised before and we know that what happened a couple weeks ago is not something that happens often. It’s like flying on a plane. Crashes happen so rarely that when they do, it’s BIG news. But there are thousands of planes taking flight every single day.)
I am also anxious for spring flowers and planting season and sea turtle hatching season. (Oh my goodness, there’s a national beach near me where this is a seasonal thing and you can go watch the baby turtles waddle out to sea. True story!) And dolphins in the harbor and baby bunnies which show up randomly on my front lawn.
And Cadbury Mini Eggs, because, well, who isn’t excited about those?
Now it’s your turn. What are you most excited about this spring?

It’s HERE! The Descendant Cover Reveal.

AAAAHHHHH! Can you believe this gorgeous cover? Seriously. I know I’m a teensy bit biased. I mean, LOOK! That’s my name. That character? I created her.
Um. Forgive me. I believe it’s possible I’m overexcited. But still. This is it. The cover for my first published full-length YA fiction novel. This is a day for which I have been waiting for a very, very, way-too-long time.
And now I will stop gushing and let you read the cover copy (which may not actually end up on the cover—but it works for now).
Descendant
Seventeen-year-old Abigail Johnson is Gifted.
Blessed—or cursed—with Sight and Healing, Abby lives an unsettled life, moving from place to place and staying one step ahead of the darkness that hunts her. When she arrives in Jackson, Wyoming, she is desperate to maintain the illusion of normalcy, but she is plagued with visions of past lives mixed with frightening glimpses of her future. Then she meets Kye, a mysterious boy who seems so achingly familiar that Abby is drawn to him like he’s a missing piece of her own soul.
Before Abby can discover the reason for her feelings toward Kye, the darkness catches up to her and she is forced to flee again. But this time she’s not just running. She is fighting back with Kye at her side, and it’s not just Abby’s life at stake.

Now, just FYI, there is no purchase link yet because this book isn’t released until May. You will be able to preorder it sometime in the next few weeks, but if you’re interested and want to keep track, you can always add it to your Goodreads “want to read” list. Talk about it, send yourself reminders, whatever. And also, keep checking back here, where I will be posting teasers and contests and other exclusive activities you won’t want to miss.
Thanks for celebrating with me!    
Find Descendant on Goodreads.

**UPDATE** 
Interested in joining us for the blog tour in May? Sign up here!

Booing Never Helps Anyone

Dudes! Monday. MONday. MONDAY! My cover reveal happens on MONDAY! I am very excited about this. It makes me want to cheer and dance and sing. I believe I shall do all three.
*cheers*
*dances*
*sings and sings and sings*
I hope you’ll stop by one of the participating blogs and say hi.
On a different subject, I want to talk for a minute about children and sports, and how it’s possible to sabotage a child’s chance for success.
As a parent, I want my kids to do well in their sport of interest. Be that sport basketball, soccer, chess, art, or basket-weaving. I want them to get to do that thing, or play that sport, as often and as well as they can. And I want them to be happy doing it.
To me, that means cheering for them when they do well. And perhaps offering pointers when they don’t. Pointers being constructive criticism of the non-damaging variety. As in: Hey, that was a great shot you took. Maybe next time you can try doing it like…xyz. It does not now, nor will it ever mean yelling profanities, or screaming about what they’ve done wrong or uttering, yelling, or even thinking, the word, “Boo.”
And yet. I know a lot of parents who do. I sit in the stands and hear them booing their kids, and their kids’ teammates and the coach and the referees. And then they start back on the kids. These people do this from the position of sideline spectator, in the presence of other parents and spectators.
I hear them booing their kids and glare at them, and on occasion, manage to restrain myself from punching those parents. Because I believe that booing a person will never, ever, ever, ever help them improve anything. It will never make them better. Ever. Ever. Ever. But it will destroy their self confidence, and possibly sabotage their ability to continue.
I am the parent who yells and cheers and screams for the good things players do, whose goal is to build them up and make them love to play, regardless of whether they win or lose. (And it’s possible I’m the parent who is gaining a reputation for giving the death glare to the above-mentioned spectators. Because, seriously, who would want to keep playing while their own parents are up there booing them off the field?)
The point is, I challenge you all to resolve to be that person (parent or not) who always cheers for the good things, and never boos the mistakes. To my knowledge, booing has never helped anyone.
Thanks for listening. Off my soapbox.
See you Monday!