Kelley York's Blog, page 6

Happy New Year!

Where did 2012 go?! I haven't a clue. And, like many people, I feel the desire to start 2013 off by sharing my goals for the upcoming year. Not only what I hope to achieve, but what I DID achieve last year, because it was a lot!


Things I've accomplished in 2012:
Cut my plastic consumption by about 40%. Switched to diet soda.Since I hate diet soda, overall soda consumption decreased. Began grocery shopping at organic stores and the local farmer's market. This isn't to say everything I get is organic, but I make a huge effort to stay away from processed foods.Attempted going vegan. Body DID NOT LIKE.Ceased using chemical cleaning products in my house. By doing this, I've reduced (and eliminated) several of my sensitive skin problems!Released two books.Wrote three books.Lost weight. Read 25 books.Took our first vacation in years (to Point Reyes).

Things I hope to accomplish in 2013:
Cut out soda completely.Write four books.Read 50 books.Get better about eating my veggies. (Hahahaha...ha.)Drastically decrease dairy and grain intake. This includes switching to almond milk and coconut flour. Attend a conference. Somewhere. Anywhere. Take a vacation.Find a way to get to an Ed Sheeran concert. Kidnap Ed Sheeran. Keep him and love him forever.There you have it. Have you accomplished anything in 2012 (writing-related or not) that you're proud of? Anything fun you resolve to do in 2013?

School woes

You know what gave me a headache growing up?

The US system of measurement.

I mean, really. In school they threw all these numbers at us that made ZERO sense. Why were 12 inches a foot when 3 feet is a yard? And then--wait, what?! There are 1,760 yards to a mile?? I DON'T UNDERSTAND.


And then I found this and it made me want to smack my head against a wall. I've always thought the rest-of-the-world way of writing dates made a lot more sense. In fact, for awhile I adopted using it, but ended up confusing people.

There's really no point to this post other than me whimpering for someone to pleeeease change the US system over to the metric system. (Easier said than done, I know.)

Interesting article on the whole thing here.

SUICIDE WATCH playlist(s)!

I always have to do this, because it's so much fun. (I know Jena is always excited to see these. ;) )

The fun thing about Suicide Watch is that it technically has two playlists. There's the 'internal' playlist, which are the songs and references actually used within the book. Then there's MY playlist for songs I either listened to while writing, or felt fit the mood of the book and the characters.

Let's start with the internal one first, as it requires less explanation.


Suicide Watch references by Kelley York on Grooveshark

These are songs that were all directly--or indirectly--referenced in the book. I say indirectly because there might be instances of saying an artist was playing in the background without naming a song. (That gets tedious, I imagine.) For instance, one of the songs Vince catches Adam playing is Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind."

If you only listen to a few songs on this list, I would beg you to try "In My Life."


Suicide Watch by Kelley York on Grooveshark


The Beatles - In My Life
all these places have their moments / all these places have their moments / with lovers and friends i still can recall / some are dead and some are living / in my life, i've loved them all / but of all these friends and lovers / there is no one compares with you
One of the key songs for the story. It's a beautiful song, sad but not without hope.

Ed Sheeran - Autumn Leaves
do you ever wonder if the stars shine out for you? / float down / like autumn leaves / hush now / close your eyes before the sleep / and you're miles away / and yesterday you were here with me
Nevermind that Ed Sheeran is fucking amazing and can do no wrong and this is easily one of THE most beautiful songs in existence. (end fangirling.) I can't say much about what this is about without spoiling, but I guess I can say it's Casper-centric.

Lifehouse - Breathing
i am hanging on every word you say and / even if you don't wanna speak tonight / that's all right, all right with me / 'cause i want nothing more than / to sit outside heaven's door and / listen to you breathing
Of course, Adam and Vince need a song (or twenty) of their own. Vince has a habit of saying the wrong thing or being awkward, but Adam's problem stems more from the inability to know how to say anything at all.

One Direction - Change My Mind
but baby if you say you want me to stay / i'll change my mind / 'cause i don't wanna know i'm walking away / if you'll be mine
Come on, every playlist needs at least one cheesy love song, right? RIGHT?

Snow Patrol - Chasing Cars
i don't quite know / how to say / how i feel / those three words / are said too much / they're not enough / if i lay here / if i just lay here / would you lie with me and just forget the world?
An Adam POV song. The lyrics really are quick and simple, very much how he might try to express himself, yet gets the point across beautifully.

Coldplay - Don't Let it Break Your Heart
from a shipwreck i heard a call / well she said / when you're tired of aiming your arrows / still you'll never hit the mark / even if your aims are shadows / still we never gonna part / come on baby / don't let it break your heart
A Vincent and Casper song. An uplifting one (kinda??) at that!

Leona Lewis - I Got You
what's sweet about it / 'cause we're right at the end / mad about it / just figure it out in my head / i'm proud to say / i got you / go ahead and say goodbye / i'll be all right / go ahead and make me cry / i'll be all right
Really, I like this song here because it applies to all three of the main characters. It can be their trio-theme, I guess.

AWOLnation - Not Your Fault
i'm a fight with myself / 'til i'm bleeding / just a taste of your skin / starts the healing / anyone from my past / get your ammo / find my sun in the dark side / of my shadow 
A harsher song, and, really, it could fit for Casper or Vince given their tendency of pushing people away--be it on purpose or accidentally.

The Beatles - Nowhere Man
he's a real nowhere man / sitting in his nowhere land / making all his nowhere plans for nobody / doesn't have a point of view / knows not where he's going to / isn't he a bit like you and me?
When I first got an inkling for this book, the title I had in mind was "Nowhere Man." But I didn't feel it fit, and "Nowhere Boy" was the name used for a movie about young John Lennon, so that was out, too. But it's definitely Vince's song, especially from an outsider's perspective. (Adam's, maybe?) Some of these lyrics were originally in the book, however I chose to cut them for fear of copyright issues.

Soul Asylum - Runaway Train
can you help me remember how to smile / make it somehow all seem worthwhile / how on earth did i get so jaded / life's mystery seems so faded / i can go where no one else can go / i know what no one else knows / here i am just drownin's in the rain / with a ticket for a runaway train
One of the things I really, really aimed for in SW is not to ONLY tell Vince's story. This is also Adam's story. This is also Casper's story. And this is definitely a Casper song, about feeling lost and out of control, on a pathway she knows isn't going to end well but being incapable of stopping it.

Stone Parade - Somebody Will Miss You
no rose without a thorn / a bittersweet design / hanging on an empty suitcase lie / and the war is in your eyes / somebody will miss you / know that i will say i need you to / help me help you / so i can learn to face the truth / somebody will miss you
Not sure this one needs much explanation. A realization that if/when any of them go, someone will be left behind to miss them.

Ingrid Michaelson - Turn to Stone
let's go to sleep with clearer heads / and hearts too big to fill our beds / and maybe we won't feel so alone / before we turn to stone
To me, in this song, 'turn to stone' has always meant death. This would be a Casper song aimed toward Vince and Adam.

Gemma Hayes - Home
guarded by the darkness, waiting side by side / we tag along at the back of the crowd / you and i / full of sorrow, full of light / your face is home / no taste like home 
Here you have it: the ultimate (in my opinion/from what I've heard) Adam and Vince song.

AFI - The Missing Frame
one at a time, i watched them all forget / one at a time, i'm lost in little deaths / it's the place that i / i forget my life / but tonight / i'll let you tear it up / if you don't wake me up
More of an Adam song, which is good because he doesn't have too many. It's an 'apathy toward life and humanity' kind of song, and how he feels he doesn't have anyone who truly cares about him in his life. Yet despite that, this song isn't soft and slow, but passionate and almost desperate.

Lydia - The Hospital
so i've been sleeping with this silence in my mindand all i see, scares meand no one knows it, but she, she saved me
so i've been sleeping with this silence in my braini wake up here everyday in this god damn placei won't wait here anymore
it's still not quite the way it wasbut you promised me this is loveso stay and watch the hospital that's just across the street from your apartment balcony i'll never ever leave therei'll never leave
oh, no one is watching nowsing like you just might drownbut always come back home'cause i never got to see you once more, noi guess that's all i wantedyeah, i guess that's all i needed
now look, we've made a fool out of lovewhen all we want is to be enoughwhen all we want is to feel enough
it's still not quite the way it wasbut you promised me this is loveso stay and watch the hospital that's just across the streetfrom your apartment balconyi'll never ever leave therei'll never leave
watch the hospital that's just across the the street(it's still not quite the way it was)from your apartment balcony(but you promised this is love, so stay)i'll never ever leave therei'll stay here

Okay so wow. Indulge me by letting me ramble on this one, because it's the ultimate Vincent song ever. Every line of this song fits, and not only that, but it covers his relationship with nearly everyone, from Jessica the Jumper, Casper, Adam, Cory, and Maggie. Even some of the imagery (the apartment balcony, the hospital) fits to a T. It's a sad, beautiful song, and might just be the best fitting for the entire book. If you've read it and heard the song, do you agree?


ALSO, ALSO, HI--but I suppose I should announce the winner of the signed copy, huh? ;) That honor goes to JESSICA REIGLE! Congratulations, Jessica! I just sent off an email to you. I also chose a few extra winners to receive e-copies of SUICIDE WATCH as a thank you for entering. If either of the runner-ups don't want their digital copies (such as if they don't have a means to read them), I'll draw someone else to take their place.

Thanks to everyone who participated! Don't worry, there are always more giveaways down the line. ;)

Suicide Watch is LIVE! + Charity auction!

First things first...Suicide Watch is NOW AVAILABLE IN PRINT AND E-BOOK*! Technical release day isn't until Thursday, but I'm going to be pressed for time the next two days and I'd rather the book be out early rather than late.


On top of that awesome bit of news, auctions are going up over at Words for Hope.


Lots of signed books and critiques and swag! In my auction, I'm offering:
- Signed copy of SUICIDE WATCH and HOLLOWED
- 10-page critique
- 1 e-book cover (or banner header if you prefer)
- Digital copy of HUSHED, HOLLOWED, and SUICIDE WATCH

Not bad, huh? All auctions start at $10, which is a STEAL for these items. Plus, you know, money for a great cause. Click the banner to head over!

The Changing Industry

When I returned from Indiana to California, I started working for a bank. Student lending, to be exact. I did background type stuff in an office setting handling loans. That bank bought out another bank, which was a Huge Mistake and ended up costing my bank a lost of money and, ultimately, the business itself. (Thank you, housing market and crap loans.)

Another, bigger bank bought our bank. My office building, which was all student lending, was let go with the exception of a few departments (like mine) who stayed on, working their butts off to help the new bank with work they were backed up on. This lasted about six months. We all had hopes we'd be kept on. But, no, they let us go.
Our building was to be transformed into a new home loan mortgage building instead. Home loans are way different than student loans. But we were given a chance to apply as internal employees. I got chosen, and I worked for home mortgage for 18 months. 
All this happened in the course of 5 1/2 years. 
That, my friends, is a lot of change in 5 1/2 years. 
The point of this being, I'm not a stranger to watching industry change and change rapidly. In both student lending and mortgage, new laws were constantly being adjusted and put in place that required immediate change to what we were doing on a daily basis. Really, publishing is the same.
Trends are always changing, of course, that's not new. But we're seeing more self-published authors out there, and they're doing well. We're seeing more agents go after these self-pubbed authors to get them on their client list. We're seeing some small presses do better and grow at an amazing rate. (I'm looking at you, Entangled!) Sadly, I'm not seeing a lot of bigger presses be largely competitive with their e-book pricing, which is rapidly becoming a huge portion of sales. I imagine that'll be even truer after Christmas with how cheap e-readers have become, and the fact more and more e-readers can do more than just read books.
All this change has me wondering how the industry will adapt. How long will book stores (especially the big chains) keep open? How will digital books begin competing aside from price points? Are readers becoming less disinclined to ignore a book just because it's self-pubbed? Will agents continue to be necessary? (My opinion: yes, but not as they are now; I imagine them beginning to take on different roles, as some already are.) How many books should authors be producing per year now in order to keep their names relevant? Once upon a time, it was a book a year. Now it seems that number has increased significantly. 
There are plenty of blog posts and articles across the internet about these things, but what are your thoughts? 

Charity auction: Words for Hope

In light of the events that took place at Sandy Hook Elementary a few days ago, Jamie Manning has arranged a charity auction to raise money for the victims. 100% of proceeds will go to the families. There'll be a great chance to bid on books, critiques, swag, and all sorts of fun stuff. I strongly encourage anyone to please, please check it out and see if there's anything you'd like!

The auctions will start going live tomorrow morning, and will be staggered (one per hour). Bidding will remain open for 24 hours. All the info you need is on the site.

Please go check it out!

Cover Reveal: DEAR CASSIE!

I was kinda late on the bandwagon for reading PRETTY AMY, and I'm sad I did because it really was a great book. On the bright side, as soon as I finished reading it, DEAR CASSIE was announced, so at least I didn't have as long to wait to hear about it? ;)

So excited. YAY!

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DEAR CASSIE official Blurb:
What if the last place you should fall in love is the first place that you do?You’d think getting sent to Turning Pines Wilderness Camp for a month-long rehabilitation “retreat” and being forced to re-live it in this journal would be the worst thing that’s ever happened to me.You’d be wrong.There’s the reason I was sent to Turning Pines in the first place: I got arrested. On prom night. With my two best friends, who I haven’t talked to since and probably never will again. And then there’s the real reason I was sent here. The thing I can’t talk about with the guy I can’t even think about.What if the moment you’ve closed yourself off is the moment you start to break open?But there’s this guy here. Ben. And the more I swear he won’t—he can’t—the deeper under my skin he’s getting. After the thing that happened, I promised I’d never fall for another boy’s lies.And yet I can’t help but DEAR CASSIE excerpt: We kept walking on the lake trail, the bullfrogs croaking. There was also a humming in my ears from the nicotine. It could only be from the nicotine. It had nothing to do with being outside, at night, alone with Ben. It had nothing to do with Ben coming to the cabin and taking me instead of Nez and it definitely had nothing to do with the stars above us shining like they were the sky’s tiara.  I stopped on the trail and looked up, taking them in, when all of a sudden bright colored lights exploded in the sky—fireworks, one after another, on top of each other, huge kaleidoscopes of light, like sparkling rainbow spiders.“How did you know?” I asked, my voice going softer, like if I talked too loudly they would stop. It was so beautiful, after weeks of so much ugly.  Ben turned to look at me, the colored lights in the sky turning his skin pink, blue, green. “I’m magic.” He shrugged.I geared up to tell him to fuck off, because that was some corny-ass shit, but then I realized that he really kind of was. In that moment he was able to actually make me forget being me.  “I would try to kiss you,” he said, “but I’m afraid you’d kick me in the balls.”“I probably would.” I laughed, the sky filling with noisy color like paint launching from a giant popcorn popper. “But like I said, it wouldn’t be about you.”“I guess I’ll have to figure out how to make it about me,” he said, taking off his boots and socks and standing. “Come on.”“There is no way I am getting near that water again,” I said.“I’ll make sure nothing happens to you,” he said, holding his hand out to help me up.             I looked at his palm, open, waiting, just wanting to hold mine. For once, I didn’t think about anything except that there was a cute, sweet, smart-ass boy standing in front of me with his hand out. I pulled off my boots and socks and took it.   We stood at the lakeshore, our hands still clasped, the water licking our feet, fireworks decorating the sky. I turned to him. He was looking up, his mouth open in wonder like he was trying to swallow the moment. It was definitely one worth keeping.
DEAR CASSIE pre-buy links: Goodreads | The Book Depository | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
AND, because Lisa's a sweetheart and you should totally be following her:  Twitter | Facebook | Website
In addition to the DEAR CASSIE cover reveal, Lisa is hosting an EPIC CONTEST to celebrate DEAR CASSIE’ s cover reveal.  Lisa wants you guys to share diary entries of your favorite fictional characters with me. That’s right, choose ANY character from books, TV, movies, a cereal box and write a 500-750 length diary entry from their point of view. We will choose the top 5 and then let the masses vote on their favorite. The favorite will be published in the final version of DEAR CASSIE. You read that right, published with the author’s name! The additional four will win $20 book buying gift cards.So get diary-ing! Send you entries to prettyamystories@yahoo.com by January 1st!Voting for the top 5 will begin January 7th, with the winner being announced January 14th!

Win a (signed) copy of SUICIDE WATCH!

It's weird to think it's been two years since HUSHED was published, and five months since HOLLOWED. It'll still be another nine or so months before MADE OF STARS sees the light of day. Thankfully, I plan on self-releasing several books before now and then.

Some days I get really sad and feel I haven't gotten terribly far. People who seem to think you can sell one or two books and never need money again are very misinformed. It doesn't happen like that for everyone. I live in a very small duplex in a not so nice neighborhood, and struggle from paycheck to paycheck. I don't own a car anymore because ours was totaled and getting a new one wasn't something I could afford. I've yet to get to go to any conferences or book events, and have missed out on many opportunities to meet all my great friends who do go. I've been invited to a few things locally, and ended up unable to attend because of financial reasons.

It's a very isolating feeling, very lonely. I'm not a social person, but even I desperately want to go out sometimes and be around like-minded people who love writing as much as I do.

This is stuff really brings me down sometimes. Then I remind myself that I'm a published author and I worked really fucking hard for that. I'm still working really hard. I will continue to work hard--harder than I have been, even--to try to get to a place where I want to be.

I remember I have supportive, wonderful readers who gush about my books all over social media, and I'm really fortunate to have become friends with a lot of them. I have wonderful, wonderful friends. I have an amazing wife. I have these things, so the rest is okay because someday all the bad stuff will be better. I just have to keep working toward it.

Anyway, enough of my rambling. The whole point of this post: a giveaway to say THANK YOU. Enter the rafflecopter below for a chance to win a digital or (signed) print copy of SUICIDE WATCH (winner's choice). It's open internationally, but sorry guys, international entrants can only get the digital copy. :( I promise I'll do another contest. If you win and choose the print copy, I'll toss some HUSHED swag in there while I'm at it.

Open until December 19th! I'll announce the winner on SUICIDE WATCH's release day, the 20th. Ready? Set, GO!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Cover Reveal: SUICIDE WATCH

18-year-old Vincent Hazelwood has spent his entire life being shuffled from one foster home to the next. His grades sucked. Making friends? Out of the question thanks to his nervous breakdowns and unpredictable moods. Still, Vince thought when Maggie Atkins took him in, he might’ve finally found a place to get his life—and his issues—in order.

But then Maggie keels over from a heart attack. Vince is homeless, alone, and the inheritance money isn't going to last long. A year ago, Vince watched a girl leap to her death off a bridge, and now he's starting to think she had the right idea.

Vince stumbles across a website forum geared toward people considering suicide. There, he meets others with the same debate regarding the pros and cons of death: Casper, battling cancer, would rather off herself than slowly waste away. And there’s quiet, withdrawn Adam, who suspects if he died, his mom wouldn't even notice.

As they gravitate toward each other, Vince searches for a reason to live while coping without Maggie's guidance, coming to terms with Casper's imminent death, and falling in love with a boy who doesn't plan on sticking around.

Release date: December 20th, 2013 (print AND digital)

If you're a long-time follower, you might remember when I talked about this book under its working title, JUMPER. It was an emotional story for me and quite possibly my favorite that I've written to date. I love the characters. I love that it was purely emotion-driven and painful to get the words out.

I went through a lot of debate trying to decide what I wanted to do with it. I had some good choices, and ultimately...I realized it was too near and dear to my heart, and that I really wanted to share it in as raw a form as possible, with as much of the emotion I poured into it still prevalent. This isn't to say I didn't have some fucking fantastic readers who helped me make it better, though; we all need some of those!

Originally, I planned to release this in January because I thought I would need that time in order to finish edits and all that. But by some miracle, I finished up way early. I know it's short notice, but I decided to go ahead and release it a few days before Christmas! Plus--get this--it'll be available in digital AND print at the same time! Keep an eye out for release day, because I'll be giving some prizes away.

A huge shout out to the blogs who joined me in sharing today! If you have a second, drop by and give them some love for being awesome:

Nyrae Dawn
Shortie Says
Oops! I Read a Book Again
writers write, right?
Down Under Wonderings
Book Twirps
Steph Campbell
YA Bookmark
Crunchings and Munchings
The Bookish Babe
AliseOnLife


On a slightly different note, I'm launching a 'sub blog' for cover (and header) design! I have some samples up, including my own covers that I've done. While I'm not expecting it to be some huge, full-time gig, I thought it might help out other self-pub authors who are on a limited budget and can't swing a hundred books for a nice cover. Check it out?

HOLLOWED now available in print!

Took long enough, huh? Although it was less painful than I thought it would be. But HOLLOWED is now available in print! It'll be a few days before it pops up on Amazon and B&N, but you can purchase a copy here for $8.99!