Kelley York's Blog, page 4

Finales, catching up, and writing

The Once Upon a Time finale last night about broke me. Hook.


Rumpel. Belle.


BABY BAE. LET ME LOVE YOU.

Lack of Whale, Ruby, and all the other minor-but-shouldn't-be characters made me irrationally angry, however. I mean, really? Now I have until September to cry and roll around for season 3.



I'm also trying to get caught up on Supernatural on Netflix. We're only halfway through season 7 and sort of tuning a lot out in my impatient wait for Lucifer to return. Go figure.

My life is an exciting place, let me tell you.

Otherwise, school has kept me busy. On one hand, I deal with sometimes crappy clients who don't take into consideration they're getting their nails done at a school and the prices are dirt cheap for a reason. Because we are learning. On the other hand, I get to play around with shiny things, sometimes get to meet some very interesting people, and if I'm lucky, get a good tip. Super. Six more weeks left.

Unfortunately, all this school means a severe lack of writing time. I'm going going going all day so by the time I get home, my back and ankle are killing me and I just want to lie in an ice-cold bath to make it go away. I'm thinking I need to bring my laptop along and try getting in a couple hundred words during lunch break. We'll attempt this tomorrow and see how it goes. Yes? Yes.

On the bright side, taking the bus means READING TIME. I'm almost done with the third book in the FEED series. Thankfully, I have like six more books on my Nook waiting for me. Happy times.

What has everyone been up to? Is summer starting to rear its head in your part of the world?

Cover reveal: SLEEPER by S. M. Johnston

I'm always SO EXCITED to do cover reveals for friends. I met Sharon while we were both members of YAtopia, and she's a total doll.

Mishca Richardson is plagued by nightmares and an urgent desire to find her birth parents, which she puts down to post-operation depression. But her new heart seems to bring more than a second chance at life in the form of speed, strength and love at first sight.

About the Author:
Sharon is a writer from Mackay in Queensland, Australia who has short stories published in anthologies and was also runner-up in the Australian Literary Review's Young Adult short story contest with KARMA. By day she is a public relations executive and by night she writes weird fiction and soulful contemporaries while her husband, two sons and cat are fast asleep.

Title: SLEEPERAuthor: S. M. JohnstonPublisher: Entranced PublishingRelease Date: December 2013
[facebook | twitter | website | blog | goodreads]

Sorry for the radio silence...

I'm still here, but I started classes recently and it's the equivalent of having a full-time job, which means I'm pretty tired by the time I get myself home while I'm trying to adjust. But! I'll be over at Gay YA on May 8th with a lovely little guest post! Plus, there's a cover reveal coming for a darling friend of mine on May 3rd.

...Also, for my birthday, Wife got me a Nook HD+. Complete with an awesome promo B&N was doing. I got a $50 credit to spend in the Nook Store, which means I got a lot of books:

- Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
- House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones
- Ask the Passengers by A.S. King
- Teeth by Hannah Moskowitz*
- This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers

*I read an e-arc of Teeth many months ago and loved it. So of course I needed a copy.

I'm a little past halfway in the second book of the Feed series by Mira Grant, and I have the last one awaiting me when I'm done. BOOKS EVERYWHERE.

Also, is anyone as happy as I am that Once Upon a Time is finally off of hiatus? Sad that we only have three episodes left? Screaming that Killian's "return" was all of TEN SECONDS AT THE END OF THE DAMNED EPISODE? Depressed that The Walking Dead season has ended? Rolling around in happiness over the start of Game of Thrones? Yeah, me too.

What have you all been reading/watching?

WIP snippet #2: Dirty London

I did promise some people I would post a bit more, so...




Wade takes a deep breath. He reaches for my hand. His thumb slides across my knuckles and it's nice, pleasant, but it's not like my heart starts dancing or anything. Because this is Wade, my friend, and that's all we're ever going to be. But I'm aware he's leaning in to kiss me, and that I told him I would so taking it back now seems cruel after I've come all this way. Don't knock it 'til you try it, right? So I let his lips brush against mine. Briefly and lightly at first, then again with more courage once he realizes I'm not going to hit him. I've never kissed anyone before, which means my brain is thinking too much about all these little sensations and how I'm moving, how I'm kissing him back to make sure I'm...I don't know. Doing it right? I bet the book store has manuals on how to kiss. I bet I should not be thinking so much about kissing while kissing.

WIP snippet: Dirty London

I'm close enough to finishing this book that I feel it's safe to share a bit. Why the hell not?

As far as I'm aware, that should be the end of the conversation. I turn to leave and Wade says, "I'm sorry."

I stop, purse my lips, and slowly twirl on my heel. "Hm?" 

"I'm sorry," he repeats, looking awkward and adorable with his backpack hanging from one hand and Jasmine's baby blue purse from the other. "About the other day. I shouldn't have gone off on you like that."

I'm inclined to agree. "No, you shouldn't have. But whatever." Shrug. "Don't go thinking I'm gonna run my mouth to anyone. I doubt they'd believe me, anyway."

"I'm not worried." He frowns. A couple of girls pass us in the hall, side-eyeing us with furrowed brows as they marvel at a Nobody talking with Wade Jones. He doesn't help matters by flicking his gaze to them and promptly moving in closer. To avoid being overheard, no doubt, but from an outsider's perspective, it has to look suspect.

"Look...I don't want you getting the wrong idea, is all. I'm not—and I've never—"

I hold up my hands to cut him off. "The things you want to keep secret is your deal, all right? I'm not here to tell you off because of your preferences of...whatever." 

"I'm not gay," he says urgently. 

I level a stare at him. "Never said you were."

He takes a deep breath. In, out again. "Are you?"

"Not really any of your business." 

"Then you're hiding just as much as I am." 

I hike my backpack further up my aching shoulder and finally take a step back, putting some distance between us. "Like I said, Wade. I'm not saying a word if you're not. But if you ever want to talk about it, I'll catch you around."

Cover Reveal: FOUR SUMMERS by Nyrae Dawn

I'm always so excited when my friends have new books coming out and I get to share something about it with everyone. I've heard Nyrae talking about the idea for this book for ages now, and now that she's actually getting it written, I CAN'T WAIT to read it! 

Charlotte Gates is tired of being Charlie Rae. She loves the lake she was raised on, their rental cabins, and spending her nights under the stars…but inside she yearns for more.

After his freshman year, Nathaniel Chase’s family spends their first summer at The Village. From the beginning Charlotte intrigues him. She’s the girl who always says what’s on her mind, wins at night games, and each time she looks through her telescope, gets lost in the sky.

Over the course of four summers together, Charlotte and Nathaniel become best friends, share firsts, mend broken hearts, protect each other’s secrets, overcome tragedies…fall in love. And say goodbye…

Charlie wants out of The Village. Nate wants her to have her stars. And they dream of being able to do it all together. But life isn’t as easy as their summers.

Each summer is told in alternating points of view between Charlie and Nate. Journey with the pair, and their friends, as they share their story about growing up, discovering who they are, making tough choices, and falling in love again and again.

Release date: April 29th, 2013 (Almost in time for my birthday!)
[GoodReads | Cover by B Design | Nyrae's Webiste]

Why authors should not have to "get over" piracy

The other day, an author friend of mine alerted me to the fact that ePub Bud, an online e-book site, had a Facebook page allowing people to comment with requests for books and have them sent to them. For free. Several authors jumped on this, and to the requests they saw, they were sending links to where to legally purchase the books.

I took it a step farther by sending a message to the person who was fulfilling these freebie requests, and posted on the ePub Bud wall, that they had two days to remove their copyrighted material or I would be filing copyright complaints with Facebook and my publisher. Many authors commented with their support of this, along with links of other places wherein we could complain if our wishes weren't met.

Today, the ePub Bud wall has either deleted all the messages, or switched to friends only, because I can't see a thing. I will still be reporting them.

Then another friend wrote a blog post in response to some people saying that authors should, "get over" piracy, because it's going to happen no matter what, and aren't we supposed to be writing because we love to write as opposed to being in it for the money.

To that, I say in the nicest way possible: please think about the words that come out of your mouth.

I don't make enough money to support me and my family with just my writing. I wish I did. I've been working toward it for many, many years. I've never received an advance on a book. I don't get to lounge around all day doing nothing but writing. When my first book came out, I was still working 10 to 12 hour days at Wells Fargo just to make ends meet and having to put any tiny bit of free time toward that book. I'm going to be returning to school for a few months in April in order to get a certificate for another job because I need to still be working.

Every time a site posts one of my books and people download it for free, that is taking me several steps away from my goal of doing what I want to do: write for a living.

Why? Because I love to write.

There you have it. It's really quite simple. Yes, we write because we love it and can't imagine not writing and sharing our stories. But in order to have time to do what we love, we need to get paid for it. I know very few authors who make enough with their writing to live off of. And those that do? They worked damned hard to get where they are and deserve it.

Everyone in a profession they love should be compensated for their craft if it's being shared. All of my books are extremely cheap. My EP books are less than $6. My self-pub books are less than $2. Not exactly breaking the bank. If even that is too much (and, trust me, I understand why it would be for some people) there is a perfectly legal way to obtain books they want without having to resort to piracy: go to your library and check it out. FREE BOOKS! Isn't that fucking amazing?! What's more, with B&N and Amazon's lending system you can borrow books from friends. There are book lending/sharing sites out there that are also 100% legal. And I, personally, hold a ton of giveaways on various sites for people to win free copies of my books.

I don't care if piracy is "always going to happen." I acknowledge that. But it doesn't mean I'm going to sit back and say "Oh well" and let it go on right under my nose. When I see it happening, not just to me but to my friends, I'm damn well going to speak up and make some noise. Anyone who tells me to sit down and "get over it" is not going to get a pleasant response.

My road to publication

I'm hanging out at Nyrae Dawn's blog today, giving you my road to publication story!

Cover reveal: MADE OF STARS + snippet

I was admittedly really nervous about this cover, because I had this image in my head of something beautiful and a bit haunting, and wasn't sure if anyone else would share that vision. I'm so very fortunate I had an amazing cover artist who created something so beautiful. (AND SPARKLY.) So without further ado:
 

MADE OF STARS

When eighteen-year-old Hunter Jackson and his half sister, Ashlin, return to their dad’s for the first winter in years, they expect everything to be just like the warmer months they’d spent there as kids. And it is—at first. But Chance, the charismatic and adventurous boy who made their summers epic, is harboring deep secrets. Secrets that are quickly spiraling into something else entirely.

The reason they've never met Chance’s parents or seen his home is becoming clearer. And what the siblings used to think of as Chance's quirks—the outrageous stories, his clinginess, his dangerous impulsiveness—are now warning signs that something is seriously off. 

Then Chance's mom turns up with a bullet to the head, and all eyes shift to Chance and his dad. Hunter and Ashlin know Chance is innocent...they just have to prove it. But how can they protect the boy they both love when they can’t trust a word Chance says?

And a small preview for your reading pleasure:

 My skin prickles all over from the nearness of the human icicle that is Chance. I manage to twist around to face him while he hangs off me like an overgrown rag-doll  Even after all this time, Chance's tendency to be overly physical doesn't faze me. If it were any other boy, it would be different. But this is Chance. There are no rules when it comes to him. "Let me get you something to change into. You're not sleeping in my bed like that."

This should be weird, letting some guy sleep in my bed. With me in it. We did it for years as kids because when you're seven you aren't thinking anything other than that it's cool to have the comfort of a friend nearby.

Then you hit fourteen, fifteen, and you start realizing you're watching that friend sleep because you like how peaceful he looks. You're fascinated by the shape of his mouth and how soft his lips seem. You're wondering what it might be like to play with his hair, or how you could be so in love with the shadows of someone's cheek bones.

Suddenly, it isn't so cool anymore. 

And you can head on over to GoodReads and add it!


PRE-ORDER LINKS: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Pens for Paws auction LIVE

My auction on Pens for Paws is LIVE! Up for grabs is a multi-prize pack:

E-books:HushedHollowedSuicide WatchSigned:
Hushed bookmarkPrint copy of Suicide WatchCritique:20 PagesThere are also a ton of other prize packs from fellow authors, and many critique options with agents and editors. Head on over and bid, bid, bid. The money all goes for a great cause!!