Amanda Bonilla's Blog, page 4

Unexpected Company and Time Management

In January I did a post on New Year's resolutions and my own goals to better manage my time. Well, I've accomplished a couple of things:

First of all, I've dedicated the hours between 8am and 5pm as "writing time" so as to better mesh with my family's schedule. I do take one hour out of my day to go work out (another thing on my resolutions list) and I usually quit working around 4:30 so that I can actually cook a dinner that doesn't suck. Well, doesn't suck too bad. I've also been tapering off on my on-line activity throughout the day. In the few months leading up to the release of Shaedes of Gray, I was on line A LOT. Like morning till night. My face was in front of the computer screen until I went to bed. Needless to say, this sort of agitated the hubs as he was beginning to feel like the "other man" in a torrid love triangle composed of me, him, and my laptop. And whereas my laptop is very sexy, I realized that I needed to step back and take a break. Self promotion is really important and I want to be visible and accessible. But I don't want my family to feel neglected, either. So, since January 1st I've been right on track: My writing has been WAY more productive, I get more done during the day, I'm cooking semi-edible meals, and I'm spending time with the fam in the evenings. 
So what could I have possibly not factored into my marvelous time-management schedule? Um... cleaning my house. I live in a small town and my house is sort of out in the middle of nowhere. I don't usually get surprise guests, but every once in a while, one of my friends will stop by. I think unexpected company is one of those things that sends a writer into a state of panic. As soon as you answer the door, you realize that you're wearing a t-shirt (which may or may not be clean), yoga pants (or the dreaded baggy sweats), your hair is a mess (and probably dirty), and your house (Holy shit! I forgot I even lived here!) looks like a pack of wild animals has been living there for the past few months. So, I mumble a few apologies for the mess, try to straighten up the 72 notebooks, paperbacks, day planner and 12-pack of Coke Zero that surrounds my laptop (which happens to live on my kitchen table), and then realize in a heart-stopping moment of panic that both of my bathrooms are completely disgusting. And after a well-masked panic attack and several mini strokes, the unexpected company leaves and I'm left realizing that there was an epic flaw in my time-management plan: Upkeep. 
So it's back to the drawing board. Mixed in with the writing, reading, social networking, cooking, and spending quality time with the fam, I need to add: cleaning house and self so that we are both April fresh in the event that unexpected company stops by to my list. I'm pretty sure I can block off an hour or so in my day for said upkeep. But I'm not making any promises. ;)
For the record, I Google searched "dirty house" for some funny image to plug in to this post, but the images the search gave me literally made my stomach turn. Plus, I didn't want you guys to think the pic was what my house actually looked like! ;)

Signing at Rediscovered Books

I plowed into a woman waiting in line at Starbucks Friday night. Luckily that was the worst thing to happen to me on Friday the 13th. I apologized to the poor lady, but I'm sure she thought I'd already had WAY too much caffeine and didn't need any help from the caramel macchiato I ordered. My fears for Friday's book signing included: farting, burping, puking in front of everyone, instantly losing the ability to read and comprehend the English language, inability to string words together to form coherent sentences, forgetting how to spell my name. Luckily, none of those things happened, but when it came time for me to read an excerpt from Shaedes of Gray, I did accidentally lose my place. I had this moment where all of the pages looked the same as I flipped frantically through them. And at one point I wondered, Is this even my book?!?! I don't recognize ANY of this! I eventually found my place, though, and the reading went smoothly. Thank. God.


You can't see it, but I'm panicking on the inside!

The event was wonderful, set up in a very relaxing, impromptu way. Laura, the owner of Rediscovered Books, "interviewed" me for the audience, eliminating the need for me to think up witty things to say. I simply answered her questions and it literally laid waste to my nerves. The format was great and I encourage my fellow writers to suggest this to bookstore owners for their own events. It was sort of like Inside the Actor's Studio, but for writers. :) So fun!

As you can see, I was too lazy to get rid of the "red-eyes" in this pic. Oh, and btw, I talk with my hands!
We had a great turn out, around thirty people, I think. I answered a lot of questions about the publishing business and a great reader question about whether or not Darian would ever have a girlfriend. "She needs a girlfriend." The reader said. "I think it would really help mellow her out." Every one sort of laughed and I mentioned the bad heroine girlfriend feature on Heroes and Heartbreakers. I assured the reader that Darian will have females in her life that she doesn't want to stab. She's going to loosen up considerably in books 2 and 3.  :)

After the Q&A, I signed books (we sold all but 2 copies!!) and visited with everyone who stopped by and took a few more pics. And thanks to the great response, Rediscovered has asked me back for the release of Blood Before Sunrise in July. Rediscovered is a great local indie bookstore, and they're really sci-fi/fantasy friendly. I can't wait to go back!

Don't you love these t-shirts?!?! I have a posse, yo! 

Cover Love - Blood Before Sunrise

It's been forever since I've posted here, and to those of you who occasionally tune in, I'm sorry. I've got a list of drafts for posts that I thought about writing and abandoned. Posts on Christmas, New Year's Resolutions, how grateful I am to the universe for all of my good fortune in 2011. In the end, I realized I just didn't have the words to convey just how I feel. All in all, I just feel blessed. And busy. Very busy.

I'll be posting more regularly, though still only once or so a week. And I hope to have more guest posts, contests, and fun stuff as well. 2012 is going to be another uber busy year on the writing front, and I couldn't be happier. Not only is WHEN SHADOWS CALL, a Shaede Assassin world novella going to be released in June, but BLOOD BEFORE SUNRISE, book 2 in the Shaede Assassin series will be released July 3rd. I really love book 2 and the way Darian's character has developed and grown. The art department at NAL has been hard at work too, bringing Darian to life. I think the cover is gorgeous, but I'm biased. ;) What do you think?

Guest Blogger Cassy - Crazy? You Decide

Do you know what would be fun? If I could do this whole blog post with a really thick New York accent. *waves arms dramatically* I think that would be funny and my hubby, I'm sure would not.  My father-in-law has a very thick New York accent, and it's real. I love it. (Hey, maybe that's why my hubby doesn't like my fake one?! )  Earlier this fall, my sweetheart took me and our kids to the east coast to meet his father.  We also got to meet a ton of his relatives that even he didn't know about. I took a ton away from this vacay--really I did--but my two favorite things about New Yorkers? [Disclaimer: We only got to spend three days there and were with family most of the time. I'm sure there are many other things I will love about NY when we get to go back someday.] Their accent and how loud they are!! I'm a loud person, and I'm very well aware of this fact (it may have been mentioned a time or two on report cards). But with my hubby's family it was no competition--I was the quiet one! Me! I never thought I'd see the day! Plus, I got to work on my own New York accent.  My hubby is still not a huge fan, my kids LOVE it. My four year old calls it my New York action, and that's just too awesome to correct!  When I get excited I find myself slipping into it...Recently, I found myself unable to stop with the NY accent (ya, I was that excited)! Amanda and I got to go the Midnight Madness that is The Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn, Part 1!  I so wanted to see the Twihards!! I thought for sure I'd get to see fangs and capes and people dressed like their favorite characters. They all must have gone to a different theatre. We sure saw a lot of t-shirts though and man I would've loved being a cashier in Hot Topic that afternoon! We did have a ton of fun, and laughed so hard all night!!I find it wildly entertaining to see how into books people get! Check any of your favorite authors' blogs or Facebook pages--there are fans out there that have made books and their characters part of their own reality! It's awesome!You see, I just found my home in this genre [PNR/UF] of reading barely over a year ago. I've always been a reader, mostly John Grisham, Mary Higgins-Clark and the likes. Amanda had tried converting me for years to no avail. But one afternoon I sat down with a book that we like to refer to as the "gateway drug" (Twilight) and I was hooked! I'll admit it! As soon as I finished the series Amanda handed me a grocery sack full of books and said, "If you liked that you're gonna love these!" Inside the sack were Jeaniene Frost's Nighthuntress Series and Patricia Briggs Mercy Thompson series.  I loved them and I needed more! I'm a pretty fast reader and in six month's time I read 120 books!! (That's why we call it the "gateway drug"-I was on the verge of divorce and my family was preparing to stage an intervention! Just joking...I think!) I use Facebook as a tool to stalk my favorite authors and book blogs. I unfriended everyone I know because I was tired of them posting stupid shit in my news stream and interfering with important author updates. I can't believe how at home I feel with these book people! My Mom used to live in the Tri-Cities of Washington State and last year I planned my visit to coincide with the release of Patricia Briggs's River Marked, and the signing that was (I kid you not) two blocks from my Mom's apartment.  So I spent four and a half hours in line waiting to meet Patty and get her autograph.  It is one of the highlights of my life. I've never done anything like that before (oh ya, I'm a newby!).  So my questions for you dear reader: What's the craziest, most fun thing you've ever done in the name of literature? What do I need to have on my bucket list? Don't hold back, I'm only 31 so I could have anywhere from a day left to like 75 years and I plan on having fun! 

Between Light and Dark Blog Tour

Today's blog tour stop is at Full Moon Bites where I'm talking about how my fantasy world converges with my real life. Hope you can stop by!

As of this week, my blog tour is in full swing! Today, I ...

As of this week, my blog tour is in full swing! Today, I have an interview posted at Manga Maniac Cafe. Hope you can stop by!

Happy Thanksgiving - Cassy Style

Just a little something to brighten your holiday, courtesy of Cassy, guest blogger extraordinaire.



Have a great Thanksgiving guys!

Blog Tour Stop - Book Chick City

Want to know why I write urban fantasy? I'm talking about it at Book Chick City today and giving away a copy of Shaedes of Gray! Hope to see you there!

Deep Fried and Covered in Chocolate

Not long ago, I read every single Janet Evanovich book I could get my hands on. My main focus however, was the Stephanie Plum Series. Her books are so much fun! In every book there is a bag of donuts. Her characters…Eat…Donuts! They go to bakeries, buy bags of donuts and eat all of them! Either this is fiction at its finest or I am hanging out with the wrong groups. I know very few women who would actually confess to eating a single donut, let alone a whole bag!
I want to eat donuts a bagful at a time! I love apple fritters and maple bars, sugared donuts, donut holes, cinnamon twists, the ones with chocolate frosting and little sprinkles, Boston Creams that are so full of pudding you need a handful of napkins just to look at them. I love sucking the sweet sugary glaze off my fingertips! Mmmmmmmmm... I wish I could eat a bagful of donuts right now and every morning for breakfast! (Oh, and I don't want to get fat or high cholesterol or feel guilty because of it!)
Amanda has talked about this subject in a couple of blog posts: foods characters eat and how it makes them more relatable to the reader. Amanda's Darian eats Honey Nut Cheerios and Charley Davidson from Darynda Jones' series takes in coffee via an IV drip (*wink* no, not literally). In Tracey Garvis-Graves' book ON THE ISLAND, TJ and Anna like to talk about the foods they will eat if they are ever rescued (fountain Cokes with lots of ice, Doritos, Slim Jims…). Seeing, or rather, reading about people's food habits does make them more relatable. Food is definitely important: too much, too little, when, where… Forget baseball-Eating is America's favorite past time!
Back to the donuts. Every time I read a Janet Evanovich book I crave donuts!! Do you know what I'm talking about? Do you ever crave foods just because your favorite characters are eating it? 
~Cassy

Blog Tour Kick Off!

Today is officially the first day of my blog tour! I'm posting about the Shaedes Mythos over at one of my very favorite blogs Wicked Little Pixie. Hope to see you there!