Abbi Glines's Blog, page 5

Message from the Baby Daddy

An Essay from the Fringe

Thank you for buying TORMENT.

In the short time the book has been out, and considering that Abbi helped me pitch it to you nice people, who generally read Romance and Teen Fiction, I am happy to have seen it (all because of you) rise into to the “twenty something thousands” on Amazon last week. And also for those following along on the Twitter book I’ve been posting, I thank you. These are major successes for an unknown and I am humbled and appreciative that anybody would spend a dollar on my work.

TORMENT was a book entitled THE LUTHERAN twelve years ago and at that time I loathed THE LUTHERAN so much that I vowed to rewrite it someday. And so I did. I just wanted to tell you about the process behind these things in order to encourage those out there who are struggling with developing programs to write in any genre.

I am not successful. Have lived on what you would refer to as “THE FRINGE” the overwhelming majority of my life. I’ve lived in a FEW houses. I’ve also slept in my vehicle, under overpasses, at YMCA’s, in the woods, in the mountains, in many floors, on beaches, lakeshores, on the street, etc. I don’t mind it. I like THE FRINGE. I only have a basket of clothes and currently, when I’m here, sleep in Abbi’s warehouse on a blowup mattress with my very old dog Katie.

The floor is fine. I’m only 47. I’ve been a dishwasher, worked in the rodeo business, was a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer, a translator, drew blood, sold bootleg whiskey, was a Spanish teacher in the “not so nice part of a city” and had wonderful kids in my high school classes, worked on ranches, for the federal government, was a commercial fisherman off Kodiak Island in Alaska, hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2010 from north to south (actually hiked 2,243.1 miles between July 9th and December 12th of 2010 on that particular trail because I was lost for 65 extra miles), was a scrap guy, painter, sheet rock hanger, ran the New York City Marathon (and some other stupid thirty-three mile jungle race in Central America that made me pee blood), have been to every state, lots of countries, on and on and on… though I tell you, tis’ books like TORMENT I’ve always written on the side.

I start before daylight seven days a week and my program contains five parts: 1. I edit Abbi. 2. I edit me. 3. I add new material. 4. I memorize vocabulary. 5. I read. I go every single day, seven days a week until I can’t go anymore and have been doing so since December 30th of 2013. Since that time I’ve only had eight days off and my shortest day has been four hours. My longest, fourteen. I hand write everything first in yellow notebooks with a pen. TORMENT (eight notebooks, four hundred pages even) took me nineteen months, forty-five hundred hours and eleven pens. I typed it on a $111, plus tax, Goodwill computer I bought in Waco, Texas. I average reading 23,000 pages a year, about ninety books, mostly fiction, and I do all of this because I BELIEVE in it. Writers, reread it: BELIEVE IN IT. Yes, I am extreme. But I will never “phone a book in” that I expect you to purchase.

Abbi just said “stop writing, the young people will tune you out.” I’m getting a text on my nineteen-dollar flip phone. It’s a photo. All of my photos on my nineteen-dollar flip phone look like a mermaid holding two big bags of rolled coins and she is always blue. . .forever the blue mermaid from the world of the text. . .

This was a thank you. A get to know. Never been on social media. Okay, my teen fiction series is next so I hope the teens didn’t stop reading. I won’t assault you anymore in BLOGGYLAND, or whatever this place is called.

Thanks again for the help with TORMENT. We’ve a tiny baby to pay for hereabouts and you’re appreciated.

Sincerely,

Jack Britton Sullivan

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2cUyXCB

Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/2cFXiLq

The post Message from the Baby Daddy appeared first on Abbi Glines.

View more on Abbi Glines's website »

6 likes · Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on September 22, 2016 08:08

Once She Dreamed-Graphic Contest

Once She Dreamed-Graphic Contest!

Winners will receive a copy of the Ebook when it’s released.

Here is how it works:

* Pick one or more of your favorite quotes below from the book.

* Create an Instagram graphic for each quote you choose. (Make sure your graphic is 650×650 square & put your Instagram handle on the graphic for credit)

* Share your graphics with the hashtag #OnceSheDreamed and #Original so we know you are the designer.

* You will be notified in the comments of your post if you’ve won.

* THREE winners will be chosen, ONE each Friday leading up to the October 10th release date.

* Sammy Jo is the lead character. She is from a small rural town in North Alabama. She has blonde, loose curly hair. Jaime is her best friend, she has brunette hair.

Here are the quotes:

“I don’t imagine you ever in love. Sammy Jo Knox in love?” – Jamie

“I had never had crushes on a boy. Because the boys here were just that, they were here where I didn’t want to be.” – Sammy Jo

“Maybe I’ll conquer the world single and enjoy every minute of doing it.” – Sammy Jo

“I’m trying to figure out how you’re not already out there on some guys arm.”

This time I smirked. “I don’t want to be.”

“For some it wasn’t enough. For me love wasn’t enough.” – Sammy Jo

“Momma always said this wouldn’t be needed if they’d all just read their Bibles and follow the rules as written. I figured if the Bible was full of rules then no wonder they didn’t want to read it. I liked the stories in it, especially the romantic ones, though often weirdly violent. I wasn’t much of a fan of the rules though.” – Sammy Jo

“This was my Cinderella moment. I wanted to take a photo, or better yet video this. Have it as a memory so when it was over I could remember it actually happened.” – Sammy Jo

“Just remember Sammy Jo, not all fairy tales are real, true or wise.” – Momma

“There’s more to a man than his money and what he can gift you with his wallet. It’s his heart that matters most.” – Momma

“Since you were a little girl I knew you’d be the one to leave me. That face has stopped traffic and brought attention all your life.” – Momma

The post Once She Dreamed-Graphic Contest appeared first on Abbi Glines.

View more on Abbi Glines's website »

5 likes · Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on September 20, 2016 07:20

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month!

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness month. During September all proceeds from my online store will go directly to Children’s Cancer Research Fund. You can help too by visiting their website and buying products from stores and restaurants that are donating a percent of their proceeds during September to cancer research.
As a mother I want to know everything possible is being done to save children’s lives from this terrible disease. You can visit my online store HERE.

Be sure to share the website http://bit.ly/kidscancerawareness with the hashtag #GoGold this month on your social media.
From the Children’s Cancer Research Fund: shutterstock_350846513

Each year in the United States approximately 15,780 children between the ages of birth and 19 years of age are diagnosed with cancer.
Globally there are more than 250,000 children diagnosed with cancer each year. Every 3 minutes, somewhere in the world a family hears the devastating words that their child has been diagnosed with cancer. While survival rates for many types of childhood cancer have improved, for too many children, cancer will shorten their lives too soon. Cancer remains the most common cause of death by disease for children in America.

The post September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month! appeared first on Abbi Glines.

View more on Abbi Glines's website »

9 likes · Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on September 02, 2016 01:00

Release Day tomorrow – Under The Lights

Buy links at bottom of post

Tomorrow is release day for Under The Lights so I thought I would share a bit about the series. The Field Party series all came from an idea directly associated with my childhood. Growing up in a small Alabama town we didn’t have much in the way of entertainment. So there was a field we went to at night to party. It was either that or cruise the Food World parking lot. The field was much more exciting.

The series began last August with Until Friday Night. My desire was to write teen novels with real life issues teens are facing along with the Friday night football games, romance, and field parties. I can honestly tell you I am very proud of Until Friday Night. It was everything I wanted it to be. The reaction I received from teens, teachers and even parents was amazing.

Tomorrow the second book in the series releases, Under The Lights. I had to tell this story in three points of view because it goes all the way back to the characters childhood and a friendship that started between a young privileged boy and the housekeeper’s granddaughter.

Willa Ames makes the same mistakes many teens make but her outcome is lasting. It is something she will never forget or be able to completely move on from. My own daughter had been going through a rebellious stage in her life when the idea for the book came to me. Thankfully she got it together and the tragedy that strikes Willa didn’t touch her. But to some kids they aren’t so lucky.

Brady Higgens is the All American quarterback with the perfect life. He knows no pain or struggle. Yet as a child he loved Willa Ames. Now she’s returned and things haven’t changed, at least for him.

Gunner Lawton has always had everything. His life appears easy to others. He’s out for himself and having fun. Nothing more. But at home it’s all falling apart and there are dark secrets he is holding close. The truth would change it all. When Willa Ames moves back in with her grandmother, his housekeeper, he remembers the girl from his past. The days spent in his tree house and the memories they made. She’s the only one who truly knows how imperfect his life really is.

One girl. Two boys. And secrets that can destroy them all.

Is this a love triangle? Not really. It’s much more.

Hope you enjoy Under The Lights – The hardcover is currently on sale at Amazon US for $7 (cheaper than the ebook)

I am also accepting copies by mail to sign. CLICK HERE for information on it works.

XOXO,

Abbi

Barnes and Noble

http://bit.ly/2aG8kkN

Amazon

http://amzn.to/2aiU4eU

The post Release Day tomorrow – Under The Lights appeared first on Abbi Glines.

View more on Abbi Glines's website »

21 likes · Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on August 22, 2016 12:00

Graphic Contest-Win a SIGNED copy of UNDER THE LIGHTS!

Win a SIGNED copy of UNDER THE LIGHTS by creating and sharing graphics!

Here is how it works:

* Pick one or more of your favorite quotes below from the book.

* Create an Instagram graphic for each quote you choose. (Make sure your graphic is 650×650 square & put your Instagram handle on the graphic for credit)

* Share your graphics with the hashtag #UnderTheLights and #Original so we know you are the designer.

* You will be notified in the comments of your post if you’ve won.

* TWO winners will be chosen Wednesday, August

17th.

* Make sure to include the book graphic in your graphic.

Here are the quotes:

Love wasn’t real. It was a fleeting emotion that confused you, then destroyed you in the end. (Gunner)

“I’ll teach you. I have faith in you, Willa Ames. You’ll be my wingman before it’s all over.” – (Gunner)
They thought television romance was real. It wasn’t. This was not One Tree Hill. It was real life. (Maggie) UTL4

probably my favorite quote in the whole book!

(Maggie said that???? Or Willa?)

Something lost and hurt in her eyes said she needed protecting. I had to make sure to protect the little girl she had once been. (Gunner)

Most girls I knew wouldn’t get dirty playing ball or looking for lizards. She’d been fascinating to me as a kid. Now that she was all grown up, she was still different but beautiful. Willa was like this untouched flower that everyone wanted to get close to. (Brady)

“I wasn’t suggesting you go around kissing guys last night. Just me.” – Brady

I wondered if I’d always be this raw. Did a heart heal from something like this? (Willa) 13775848_950741271715281_2593020900626236551_n

My head and heart were not ready for Willa Ames. She scared the hell out of me. (Gunner)

“Tragedy strikes us all at one point in our life. People make mistakes, and some are lucky enough to walk away without lasting marks, while others live a lifetime with the choice they made. Can’t change the past, Willa. But, you can help others not make the same mistake.” – Nonna

I didn’t want to love Gunner Lawson. Not in a way he could break me. I was too broken already. (Willa)

Knowing you love someone and saying it out loud are two completely different things. The first is startling, and the second is terrifying. (Gunner)She’d given me hope. I hadn’t realized I had none until her. (Gunner)

Willa had saved me. She showed me how to love and took me from the self-Destructive path I was on. Without her in my life, I’d be a wreck right now. (Gunner)

In life you face obstacles, and you have to fight through them. If you’re lucky enough, you find someone to fight for you too. I was lucky. (Gunner)

“…This might sound cliche and silly, but I mean it. I can’t be happy without you. You are my happy.” (Gunner)

That day I caught her playing in my tree house had been the luckiest life of my life. What would I do without her? (Gunner)

Love wasn’t real. It was a fleeting emotion that confused you, then destroyed you in the end. (Gunner)

I wanted to look away, but then I never wanted to stop looking at him either. (Willa)

I had to shake out of this trance. She was just a girl. A seriously smoking-hot girl… (Gunner)

In a small town like Lawton there wasn’t much to do on the weekends, so the field parties were the one place all the teens could go to have a good time.

She wasn’t the little girl with pigtails and dirty knees from playing ball with us any more. It was more than that. She was harder, withdrawn, and untouchable. The carefree, laughing girl I once knew was gone. Completely. (Brady on Willa)

“I see something in her eyes that I recognize. There is hurt there. The deep kind of pain that changes you. The girl you once knew probably isn’t there now…. ” (Maggie on Willa)

Willa was mine. (Gunner)

A smile broke across her face and I swear my heart skipped (Gunner)

Gunner I trusted to be there no matter what. He and I had a bond that only two kids with parents who didn’t want them could have. (Willa)

“I’ll teach you. I have faith in you, Willa Ames. You’ll be my wingman before it’s all over.” – Gunner

They thought television romance was real. It wasn’t. This was not One Tree Hill. It was real life. (Maggie)

Something lost and hurt in her eyes said she needed protecting. I had to make sure to protect the little girl she had once been. (Gunner)

Most girls I knew wouldn’t get dirty playing ball or looking for lizards. She’d been fascinating to me as a kid. Now that she was all grown up, she was still different but beautiful. Willa was like this untouched flower that everyone wanted to get close to. (Brady)

He moved so quickly I didn’t have time to register what was happening until the warmth of his lips covered mine and his hand slipped into my hair. (Willa)

His lips were soft and firm as they moved over mine. His fingers tangled in my hair like they wanted to be there. As if they had though of this moment, and now they would relish it. (Willa)

My lips were instantly chilled by the evening air, and I wanted to touch them to hold the warmth there. But I didn’t. This is all the fantasy I could get from Brady Higgens. (Willa)

“I wasn’t suggesting you go around kissing guys last night. Just me.” – Brady

Gunner was different. He frustrated and calmed me all at once. I didn’t question his motives; I understood them. (Willa)

I wondered if I’d always be this raw. Did a heart heal from something like this? (Willa)

Mornings with Willa were better. (Gunner)

My gaze fell to his lips, and I remembered how they tasted. How much I enjoyed it. How much I shouldn’t have enjoyed it. (Willa)

This I hadn’t expected, but, I didn’t want it to end. The peppermint taste of his gum mingled with mine, and I leaned in closer to breathe him in. (Willa)

There had been a connection there that me want to pull closer to him. Soak him in and never let go. (Willa)

My head and heart were not ready for Willa Ames. She scared the hell out of me. (Gunner)

She deserved more. I was damaged. I’d never be good for her. It was time Willa had a chance of something better. (Gunner)

“Tragedy strikes us all at one point in our life. People make mistakes, and some are lucky enough to walk away without lasting marks, while others live a lifetime with the choice they made. Can’t change the past, Willa. But, you can help others not make the same mistake.” – Nonna

I needed Willa with me. Having Willa meant I could face anything. She calmed me and reassured me just being close. In my life there had never been someone like Willa. I think I knew that as a child. She was special. The kind of special you only get once. (Gunner)

I had someone on my side. I didn’t deserve her, but I was thankful I had her (Gunner)

Gunner was special. He wasn’t all he flashed around. He was damaged, but deep down he was kind. He cared. He was just too scared to show anyone. (Willa)

I didn’t want to love Gunner Lawson. Not in a way he could break me. I was too broken already. (Willa)

I was in love with Willa Ames. The girl she had once been and the woman she was becoming. (Gunner)

Maybe it had always been, but I hadn’t known nit or understood it. But I knew it now.

I loved Gunner Lawson. (Willa)

Knowing you love someone and saying it out loud are two completely different things. The first is startling, and the second is terrifying. (Gunner)

She’d broken through my walls, and I was glad. She made me happy. Being with her was a complete as I’d ever felt. (Gunner)

She’d given me hope. I hadn’t realized I had none until her. (Gunner)

It made all the cheesy romance movies I’d seen appear realistic. That one kiss that changes everything no longer seemed like a fantasy. It was real. (Willa)

He was using my love as a tool like he was using his money. I didn’t want to be a weapon to hurt anyone. That wasn’t what love was about. (Willa)

Loving Gunner Lawson would never be easy. I wasn’t sure he could love me in return. Didn’t matter. I loved him. (Willa)

Willa had saved me. SHe showed me how to love and took me from the self-Destructive path I was on. Without her in my life, I’d be a wreck right now. (Gunner)

In life you face obstacles, and you have to fight through them. If you’re lucky enough, you find someone to fight for you too. I was lukcy. (Gunner)

“…This might sound cliche and silly, but I mean it. I can’t be happy without you. You are my happy.” (Gunner)

A kiss from Gunner Lawton made me weak in the knees. And that was something I knew would never change. (Willa)

We had snuck off a few times and walked to the high school just to stand under the lights. All of us. We made our plans and built our dreams. In all of those dreams Willa was there. (Gunner)

That day I caught her playing in my tree house had been the luckiest life of my life. What would I do without her? (Gunner)

Pre-Order your copy TODAY!

The post Graphic Contest-Win a SIGNED copy of UNDER THE LIGHTS! appeared first on Abbi Glines.

View more on Abbi Glines's website »

8 likes · Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on August 12, 2016 01:00

Win a Lawton Lions T-Shirt – Graphic Contest

Win a SS Lawton Lions T-Shirt by creating and sharing graphics! 13728961_951354001654008_2121765241169369297_n

Here is how it works:

* Pick one or more of your favorite quotes below from the book.

* Create an Instagram graphic for each quote you choose. (Make sure your graphic is 650×650 square & put your Instagram handle on the graphic for credit)

* Share your graphics with the hashtag #UnderTheLights and #Original so we know you are the designer.

* You will be notified in the comments of your post if you’ve won.

* One winner chosen daily through Friday, July 29th.